Global Insight Perspective | |
Significance | Pfizer has announced its increasingly heavy involvement in oncology this year with 22 oncology compounds, seven Phase III trials, four types of cancers targeted, and a 400% increase to its oncology R&D budget. |
Implications | The focus on oncology is part of a company strategy to prepare for the post-Lipitor (atorvastatin) patent expiry era, which could start as early as 2011. The development also marks the strengthening of its late-stage pipeline as Pfizer attempts to boost its regulatory submission to 15-20 drugs between 2010 and 2012. |
Outlook | The establishment of the Pfizer's oncology business unit in March indicated the firm's focus on the largest and fastest-growing therapeutic areas. Pfizer is expected to press ahead with alliances and acquisitions to bolster its presence in the US$41.4-billion cancer drugs market. |
Pfizer's Oncology Fix
U.S. pharma major Pfizer has provided details of its oncology business unit, offering a peek into the company's strategy for growth in this therapeutic market. Choosing the annual summit of the Association of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as its platform, the firm unveiled a 22-compound R&D pipeline for the cancer market. The firm is set to focus on four cancer types—namely, hepatocellular cancer (HCC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and prostate cancer. Seven experimental candidates are in Phase III clinical trials, with the overall number of clinical studies attributed to the onco research pipeline at a staggering 232, including planned, ongoing and sponsored studies. Of the seven in late-stage development, three are Sutent, axitinib and CP-751,871. The company has already initiated Phase III trials for two experimental compounds, with the rest set to be conducted at various stages of the year, including:
- Sunitinib for first-line HCC.
- Sunitinib for second-line metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer.
- Axitinib for second-line metastatic RCC.
- Axitinib for first-line NSCLC.
- CP-751,871 (ADVIGO 1017) for NSCLC in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin.
The company also announced the establishment of a new business unit focused solely on oncology on 5 March, as part of its strategy to bolster its new product pipeline. The unit is not only focused on launching novel cancer treatments, but also for cancers common in Asia, particularly research on the liver, oesophagus and nasopharynx.
Outlook and Implications
The announcement provides greater clarity regarding Pfizer's oncology focus and demonstrates its intent to quickly establish itself in the fast-growing cancer drugs market. To bolster the unit, especially in the late-stage research pipeline, Pfizer has employed inorganic means, relying on alliances and acquisitions over the past six months to a year to quickly put together a long-term product portfolio. This has entailed licensing or acquisitions involving Avant Immunotherapeutics, Sernex, CovX and Coley Pharmaceutical Group. In fact, Pfizer's US$25-billion war chest for acquisitions has been restricted to acquiring small firms with good late-stage research pipelines or one or two niche products.
The cancer drugs market is one of the largest and fastest-growing therapeutic segments, garnering sales of US$41.4 billion in 2007 at a 16% annual growth rate, according to IMS Health figures. This growth is expected to double as the market experiences an explosion of new products in response to increasing demand. Evidently, Pfizer is building up its portfolio so as not to miss the oncology boat. The company's research strategy extends centre-stage spotlight to its new cancer unit, with an eye to develop its new drugs pipeline in the short term. An indication of its aggressive pace of growth in this market segment is the 299 presentations it submitted at the ASCO 2008, up from just 26 in 2006. Pfizer is expected to maintain this pace, tapping into its acquisition kitty for more late-stage products to bolster its research pipeline in the short term. However, the most promising drugs are expected to only achieve commercialisation by 2010.
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