First-in-class biologics poised to drive malignant melanoma drug market

Jun 27 2006

Decision Resources, Inc., a research and advisory firm focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that first-in-class targeted biologics will enter the malignant melanoma market during the next five years.

Their premium price and robust uptake (as a result of the current lack of efficacious therapies) will drive market expansion.

According to the new Pharmacor report entitled Malignant Melanoma, Medarex/Bristol-Myers Squibb's ipilimumab and Pfizer's ticilimumab will be the first monoclonal antibodies to launch for the treatment of malignant melanoma.

"The uptake of ipilimumab and ticilimumab in both the first- and second-line settings for metastatic malignant melanoma will increase drug-treatment rates as physicians opt to try new therapies instead of offering patients no treatment or enrollment into a clinical trial," said Clair Gricks, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources. "We also forecast line extensions of ipilimumab and ticilimumab into the adjuvant settings and believe that these agents could eventually help revive the failing vaccine drug class."

The incidence of malignant melanoma will continue to rise in the near future. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the number of cases worldwide is increasing faster than that of any other cancer. This indication is characterized by high relapse rates and poor survival for patients with stage III and IV disease as a result of the lack of efficacious therapies in both the adjuvant and metastatic settings.

Pharmacor is a unique family of studies that assesses a host of market-impacting factors and analyzes the commercial outlook for drugs in research and development.