PhRMA Releases Two New Reports Detailing Cancer Research Progress
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) published two reports illustrating the ways in which the oncological research sector is learning from its clinical setbacks and is forming collaborations to advance the fight against cancer.
Failure is an inevitable part of scientific research, but according to PhRMA, even the failures have significant value and will be part of the eventual cure. Innovation requires failure, and discovery is a cumulative process. By learning what doesn’t work, researchers have a better understanding of how cancer operates in the human body.
In the report, “Researching Cancer Medicines: Setbacks and Stepping Stones,” PhRMA outlines the challenges and setbacks currently facing researchers and examines the progress in three different cancers — melanoma, lung cancer, and brain cancer — all of which face significant unmet pharmaceutical need and difficult prognosis.
Cancer is a complex disease, and researchers are only beginning to break the surface of understanding its origins, mechanics, and frustrating adaptability. PhRMA specifies that there are over 200 known permutations of cancer diagnosed in human beings, which often require a combination of different therapies.
However, better understanding of cancer’s function has led to new discoveries. Some of these discoveries include immunotherapies, like antibody drug conjugates and possible vaccines, angiogenesis inhibitors, and advances in epigenetics, which may be able to target specific gene mutations and effectively “turn cancer off.”
Richard Schlilsky, CMO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, says, “Scientifically, we have never been in a better position to advance cancer treatments…We now understand many of the cellular pathways that can lead to cancer. We have learned how to develop drugs that block these pathways.”
In a separate report, “Nearly 800 Medicines and Vaccines in Clinical Testing for Cancer Offer New Hope to Patients,” PhRMA reports there are 771 new medicines and vaccines currently in the works.
Because of the cancer’s complexity and the massive number of new discoveries in recent years, drug makers are becoming less and less interested in working alone.
PhRMA reports, “Biopharmaceutical research companies are working together and with academic medical centers, government, and non-profit organizations to share, organize, and make sense of huge volumes of information.”
These collaborations, says PhRMA, also help to prevent overlap or redundancy of research.
PhRMA acknowledges that even with breakthroughs, there still exists a staggering unmet medical need in cancer treatments. The organization projects a 45 percent increase in cancer diagnoses in the next sixteen years and expects cancer to surpass cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in the U.S. by 2030.
Still, John Castellani, PhRMA president and CEO, expressed the industry’s optimism. “Despite the complexity of the challenge, researchers at biopharmaceutical companies remain committed to developing new treatment options for patients.”