TOKYO -- The search for drugs that could fight the cancer cells without damaging the healthy ones that surround it continues, and it looks like researchers from Japan have stumbled upon a possible cure. This new drug looks like it could replace chemotherapy and the destructive nature of its process of healing. Scientists believe this new drug might give a new shape to cancer care.
Complex biological medicines have been in development for decades, and it is only until recently that the Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) is showing signs of success in its late-stage testing. It might be a possible breast cancer treatment. The research group refers to it as the DS-8201. This new development of the ADC came to be when AstraZeneca, a British drugmaker, agreed to invest $6.9 billion to have a joint research team with Daiichi Sankyo of Japan. The investment was seen as a confirmation that DS-8201 might really be something that will deliver new results as an alternative to the widely used medical treatment for various types of cancer.
The team aims to file for the US FDA approval of the DS-8201 in September of this year. The analysts predicted that its sales will surpass the $7 billion annual sales of the breast cancer drug manufactured by Roche Holdings. Herceptin is the drug used for chemotherapy is basically what the DS-8201 aims to replace.
"The DS-8201 may be considered as one of the largest biologic drugs that could cure cancer," said Caroline Stewart, an analyst for the Bloomberg Intelligence. She is the same person who predicted that the sales of the drug, once released in the market, might rise up to $12 billion globally. "This level has only be attained by a few drugs, most of which are medications for cancer."
Analysts say that the DS-8201 could double the number of women who could get targeted treatment for their breast cancer, the most common type of cancer that kills more than half a million women all over the world. More importantly, it is the ability of the DS-8201 to target cancer cells without killing the healthy cells surrounding it remains to be one of its key advantages over chemotherapy
This treatment has also been seen to double the survival rate of cancer survivors. They also did not experience nausea or hair loss, unlike those that remain to take chemotherapy to battle breast cancer.
However, the full potential of the DS-8201 drug as it shall undergo full validation of patients with cancer. Its efficiency in a wide range of patients also needs to be checked.
"This ADC is being packaged as a chemotherapy replacement," Cowen analysts wrote in their report. "There is significant potential to this drug, and more research will have to back it up."
