Rational Drug Design Pays Off
Walker I, Newell H. Do molecularly targeted agents in oncology have reduced attrition rates? Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, advance online publication, 14 November 2008.
Rational drug design has improved the fundamentals of oncology R&D, according to this benchmark study by Cancer Research UK.
In a study of 974 cancer drugs, researchers found that, if current trends continue, about 18% will become standard treatments (up from previous estimates of about 5%). Kinase inhibitors, which include Novartis’s Gleevec (imatinib), were almost three times more likely to make it to the clinic than other types of anti-cancer drugs.
"…We conclude that attrition rates within the oncology field as a whole are 82% (including NDR projects). However, for kinase inhibitors as a subset the attrition rate is only 53%. In addition to the reduced overall attrition rate, kinase inhibitors are more successful in the high-risk transition from Phase II to Phase III. This analysis has further demonstrated the benefits of developing molecularly targeted therapeutics for cancer."
The bar has been raised. Time for innovation to reduce attrition rates even further.
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technorati tags: research and development
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