Janssen agrees Zytiga deal
pharmafile | October 14, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, Janssen, Zytiga
Janssen has agreed to co-promote its once-daily prostate cancer pill Zytiga with AstraZeneca in Japan for an undisclosed sum.
A CYP17-inhibitor, Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) was approved two years ago in Europe and the US to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), in combination with prednisone and docetaxel chemotherapy.
Janssen in Japan submitted a marketing application for the drug to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in July – currently the country’s main treatment option is medical castration, which does not necessarily prevent the disease progressing.
The drug – which the companies are referring to by its compound, rather than brand, name in Japan at present – interferes with the production of androgen, which fuels prostate cancer growth, by inhibiting the CYP17 enzyme complex in the testes, adrenals and the tumour itself.
“Japan is one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets, where AstraZeneca has a proven track record of successfully developing and marketing innovative medicines,” said Marc Dunoyer, the company’s executive vice president, global products and portfolio strategy.
“This deal is a strong strategic fit for AstraZeneca, reinforcing both our focus on oncology as a core therapy area and Japan as one of our key growth drivers,” he added.
Earlier this year, the European Commission extended Zytiga’s licence which means it can be used to treat mCRPC before chemotherapy.
Zytiga can now be used in men who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic after failure of androgen deprivation therapy – but for whom chemotherapy has not been indicated – thus pushing the drug further up the patient pathway and potentially increasing sales.
The drug is already well-thought of by health authorities because of its effectiveness. Despite Zytiga’s high price tag of $5,000 per month NICE has recommended it on the NHS – although Janssen had to offer an undisclosed price cut.
In 2008, there were 370,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Europe, with nearly 90,000 men dying from the disease.
Adam Hill
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