Posted by Michael Wonder on 20 Jun 2018
Finding cancer patients is the pharma industry’s unlikely challenge
20 June 2018 - Doctors will need to test 100 patients to find one candidate.
The world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, looking to sell a new type of cancer drug that could transform treatment, are grappling with an unusual challenge: finding patients.
The new medicines aim to shrink tumours by targeting a rare genetic anomaly -- appearing in 1,500 to 5,000 patients’ tumours in the U.S. annually -- that can spur cancer’s growth. Bayer is out in front with a drug that could go on sale by the end of the year. Roche is pursuing the same target.
