• 9/27/2007
  • London, England
  • staff
  • TradingMarkets.com

Despite improvements in surgical techniques and the development of novel chemoradiotherapy strategies, survival rates in patients with head and neck cancer has remained relatively unchanged over the last 30 years. While this could be due to the absence of any significant advancements in treatment techniques, newer targeted therapies now hold out great promise for the future. Pharmaceutical companies that succeed in increasing efficacy, lowering toxicity and improving survival rates can expect to gain position in the emerging European head and neck cancer therapeutics markets.

“Unlike traditional chemotherapy drugs, which not only attack tumours but harm healthy tissues as well, newer agents work by specifically targeting cancer cells,” notes Frost & Sullivan Programme Leader Paljit Mudhar. “A growing number of targeted therapies that predominantly attack cancer cells, leaving most healthy cells intact, are proving to be effective against a range of cancers including breast, colon, lung, kidney and head and neck cancers and lymphoma.”

Therefore, targeted therapies are expected to be a major growth driver for the head and neck cancer therapeutics market in Europe. A number of these are undergoing clinical trials and in future, many more molecules could be identified as potential therapeutic targets for cancer. A good example of targeted therapy is Erbitux (cetuximab). This is a first in class IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), specifically targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). mAbs are highly specific therapeutics and have improved side effect profiles.

This apart, there is considerable scope for newer treatment options for those patients who have a higher risk of recurrence and are in advanced stages of the disease. Treatment options here have been limited in the past, and long term survival rate is poor. This particular driver will also have a high impact on the market throughout the forecast period.

Notwithstanding these growth factors, the complex and expensive European drug registration process is threatening product advancements. In Europe, drug registration works at both central (controlled by the European Commission) and national (country-wise) authorisation levels and co-existence of two authorities means that approvals can take a longer time. On a positive note though, the European Commission has issued proposals to streamline the regulatory process and introduce a US style ‘fast track’ procedure for breakthrough and urgent medicines.

“Moreover, price and reimbursement are set on a national level rather than the European level and this can further increase the time it takes a drug to reach the market,” says Mudhar. “This is why a majority of the companies favour the United States as the leading market for product introductions, with European launches occurring approximately a year later.”

Considering that combination of therapies have been used traditionally in the treatment of head and neck cancer, future strategies for companies in this market would be to continue along these lines, rather than replace surgery or radiation therapy or chemotherapy. This can be seen from many of the pipeline drugs, where most drugs are actually proving to be most effective in combination with other modalities. In the longer term, with more research, targeted therapies are likely to achieve better results when used in monotherapy.