 Hot Tickets From the Alliance
Each week Alliance members submit "Hot Tickets" as a way of presenting new observations and ideas on investable opportunities to ChangeWave. Today we're focusing on cancer treatment drugs Alliance healthcare members believe will have the most marketplace success.
* Note: These Hot Tickets are for informational purposes only. They do not represent recommendations from ChangeWave.
Question asked: Which cancer treatment drug do you believe will have the most marketplace success during the next 12 months? Why?
Avastin vs. Erbitux -- Colorectal Cancer Drug Treatments
MAX21846 writes: "Avastin [from Genentech (DNA)] is already approved for treatment of metastatic colon, lung and breast cancer, and is currently being studied for other cancers (renal, pancreatic, ovarian and some brain cancers). Its use is applicable to far more cancer types because it inhibits the formation of new blood vessels, which all cancers need in order to grow. In addition, it is being studied for age-related macular degeneration and has shown some success."
MPI46853 writes: "Avastin has established itself as a superior therapy at this point in time. Now that Erbitux [from ImClone Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly (LLY)] has shown to be ineffective in patients with gene mutations, this will narrow the number of patients eligible to be treated with Erbitux."
STR52545 writes: "Avastin seems to achieve good results with fewer side effects than the drugs it replaces. The opposite is the case for Erbitux -- it has more side effects, although it is a step forward in efficacy. Cancer patients are, in general, driven toward less toxic drugs for quality-of-life reasons, and Erbitux faces a harder challenge to be widely accepted. Also, once a drug starts showing effectiveness for more than one malignancy, it is often tried as a last resort for hopeless cases. Taxol saw similar success in its early years."
Tarceva vs. Avastin -- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Drug Treatment
TON06887 writes: "Tarceva [from OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP)] has an advantage because of its low toxicity, which makes it a viable option for elderly or frail patients."
NOR00005 writes: "Avastin remains the first-line treatment in patients with unrespectable advanced metastatic disease with platinum-based therapy."
MAX21846 writes: "Avastin can be used in all types of lung cancer. Tarceva is only approved for NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer), which does comprise about 80% of all lung cancers -- but only about half of all patients with NSCLC respond relatively well. The patients who won't respond as well may be better candidates for treatment with Avastin. These latter patients can be genetically tested to see how well they will respond." |
