According to a new study data on abiraterone acetate, a novel discovery from J&J, patients with metastatic advanced prostate cancer lived nearly 4 months longer compared with patients treated with placebo. The data shows that abiraterone may become a new oncology compound that could change clinical practice and promote survival benefits in patients with prostate cancer.
Phase 3 study of patients with advanced prostate cancer, who were previously treated with other compounds, including chemotherapy and anti-hormonal therapy, on average, lived 14.8 months while those on prednisone/prednisolone plus a placebo lived 10.9 months. Those 3.9 months do not seem to make a big difference, but some analysts, including Lindsay Rosenwald of BioSciences investment bank and Johann de Bono of UK Institute of Cancer Research, believe that abiraterone is a great step forward in the treatment of prostate cancer, since only four drugs in the oncology history showed survival benefits before. The drug can even be compared to Roche’s Herceptin that helps in the treatment of breast cancer.
The Phase 3 trial results may alter the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer, since they had very poor diagnosis and almost no available treatment, especially after the tumor progressed after radio- or chemotherapy. The data of the trial was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress and was found to be very promising.
Potential blockbuster
Because of a clear survival benefit, physicians and investors like Dr. Lindsay Rosenwald recommended that the patients treated with placebo and prednisone should be offered abiraterone acetate. According to some financial analysts, including Damien Conover, Lindsay Rosenwald and independent forecaster BioMedTracker, the annual abiraterone sales are expected to be around $1.5 billion by 2015.
After acquiring Cougar Biotechnology, Johnson & Johnson secured its access to abiraterone and planned to file sales applications in the United States and Europe by the end of 2010. Dr de Bono said that patients receiving abiraterone acetate had much less side effects than those patients treated with chemotherapy, although they did experience more side effects associated with prednisone/prednisolone. If approved, abiraterone will be tested in patients diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. And hopefully, the drug will make the difference.
