Glaxo dual-action cancer pill offers promise
LONDON -- An experimental cancer drug from GlaxoSmithKline, viewed by analysts as among its top new product hopes, has produced encouraging results in a small mid-stage breast cancer trial, data released yesterday showed.
The targeted tablet treatment, known as a dual-kinase inhibitor, succeeded in stabilizing or shrinking some stubborn tumors that showed no response to existing therapy.
It works by blocking two biological switches involved in cancer growth that are inhibited separately by drugs such as AstraZeneca's Iressa and Genentech's Herceptin.
Interim results from a phase 2 clinical study showed 46 percent of women with advanced breast cancer who previously failed to respond to Herceptin plus chemotherapy had either a partial response or stable disease after eight weeks of treatment.
Just over 24 percent of the group had no disease progression after 16 weeks on the once-daily drug, Europe's biggest pharmaceuticals group said.
The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans.
The research is early-stage, involving only 41 women, but the data will be monitored closely by investors looking for evidence that GSK's giant R&D machine is starting to deliver on its much-touted new drug pipeline. Of the 19 women showing a benefit from the drug at eight weeks, two experienced a partial response in terms of decreased tumor size and 17 had disease stabilization.
Results of pivotal phase 3 trials, which are underway, will not be available until next year.
If successful, lapatinib could mark a significant advance in cancer medicine. Industry analysts at Deutsche Bank estimate it could achieve worldwide sales of more than $1 billion by 2008.
Drugs like Herceptin and Iressa are already changing the oncology market by offering doctors and patients treatments that attack tumors without the side effects of chemotherapy. An effective dual-action product would take the approach to a new level.
