10 June 2016 - A new type of cancer drug that takes the brakes off the body's immune system has given drugmakers some remarkable wins against the deadly disease, but a top U.S. regulator says too many companies are focused on the same approach.

Dr. Richard Pazdur, head of the FDA's office of oncology products, was referring to therapies designed to disable the PD-1 protein that tumors use to evade the immune system.

The FDA has approved such treatments from Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche, each of which have list prices of $150,000 per year. At least five other drugmakers are developing similar medicines.

"People should ask themselves ... would we be better off spending those resources into looking at more novel drugs?" Pazdur told Reuters during the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago this week.

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