Targeted Cancer Drugs The Launch Landscape to 2018

This new report provides a complete assessment of the targeted cancer therapy landscape
Packed with statistics, competitive rankings, timelines and sector share comparisons, this report examines the current market for targeted cancer drugs, with an overview of both products and players. Looking ahead, the report identifies 79 new candidates that are currently under a minimum of Phase II development for solid tumours and provides a timeline detailing estimated launch dates to 2018. There is a review of the molecular targets on which industry attention is focused, and the companies involved in the development and commercialisation of the products directed against these targets. Finally, each product is considered individually in terms of its mode of action, current developmental status, clinical data, risks associated with development, developer and potential competition within the marketplace.


The global cancer market is changing fundamentally as broad spectrum drugs are superseded by advanced targeted therapies

Current therapeutic approaches for targeted agents will dominate...
With the success of products directed against established targets, such as ErbB (HER) and VEGF, the search continues for new and improved agents within these groups. For example, Roche is capitalising on the success of its HER2 inhibitor, Herceptin (trastuzumab), with the development of an antibody-drug conjugate, trastuzumab emtansine, which consists of the monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab, linked to the antimicrotubule agent, DM1. Pfizer has developed a multi-kinase inhibitor, dacomitinib, that targets HER1, 2 and 4, and has shown superiority to Roche's Tarceva (erlotinib) in extending progression-free survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. In addition, a variety of smallmolecule kinase inhibitors that target multiple components of the VEGF pathway and/or other angiogenic pathways are progressing through clinical trials.

...but will candidates directed at novel targets gain ground?
By 2018, Espicom expects that these new developmental candidates will account for 50% of targeted agents on the market by number. Among the pathways - and the products being developed - examined in the report are:

• The Met pathway plays an important role in the development of cancer, so interfering with Met signalling would seem to be a promising therapeutic approach and a number of targeted agents are under development.
• There is significant research interest in the PI3k/Akt signalling pathway which has shown an impressive improvement in overall survival.
• A phosphatidylserine-targeting monoclonal antibody has the potential to be effective against a wide range of solid tumours.
• Heat shock proteins are over-expressed in a wide range of human cancers and have been considered a promising target for cancer therapy, although the early Hsp inhibitors were dogged by drug-related toxicities. Those now progressing through clinical trials appear to show greater efficacy and less off-target activity.

How will the competitive landscape be affected? 

A number of the larger players will continue to dominate the marketplace into 2018 with Roche, Takeda, Eli Lilly and BMS all estimated to have achieved five or more launches. However, significant opportunities exist for many smaller innovative pharma companies and biotechs, which by their very nature are proficient and well-suited to product development in niche markets.

Questions answered by the report

• How many products are profiled treating lung, breast and colorectal cancer?
• Which developmental pathways are much fancied to provide significant clinical advances and which companies are involved?
• BMS, Eli Lilly, Roche, and Takeda all have five or more products in latestage expected to launch – what are they, what do they target and when are they expected?
• What are the prospects for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ oncology portfolio?
• Emerging opportunities: with whom are the smaller companies working and how many have yet to secure development/marketing collaborations?