ImmunoGen stock jumps on hopes for breast cancer drug

cp418

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/analysts-roches-armed-antibody-will-help-drive-breast-cancer-drug-sales/2012-08-22

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2012/08/22/immunogen-stock-jumps-on-analyst-rating.html

QUOTE - 'The bottom line for women with an advanced case of breast cancer, adds Decision Resources, is that the current three years of mean life expectancy will be extended by six months by 2021. That's a significant 20% improvement, though it may not be viewed that way by many patients.'

jenrio

That quote is priceless.  LOL.   

But the whole article is worth a careful read.   The analyst report says only 2-3 promising-delivering new agents through 2021.   I'm not sure what information they took into account, but I'm sure the analyst is very experienced in this field.

On the other hand, IMHO, cancer is not linear, ie, it's very hard to predict a given cancer's behavior.   Progress in understanding the unknown, and innovation is not linear either, ie, this analyst may be wrong.    So let's not all get depressed too soon.

It's in societies's patients' interest to try to help out research, so progress is explosive rather than linear or plateauing.    Look at melanoma/AIDS research, once upon time these had survival rate as low or lower than MBC and researchers were discouraged and abandoning the field (melanoma).   Then breakthroughs after breakthroughs within a few years and now survival rate is much better than MBC even normal life span.

There are 3 things we need to do:

a.  support MBC research, invest in research and researchers.   Join well designed clinical trials and donate samples.

b.  shorten/revise the clinical trial process and reduce the cost.   Metastatic domancy, metastatic prevention, neoadjuvant PCRs are all legitimate therapy end-points.  

c.  the current market for innovation is dominated by 2 big pharmas.    Is innovation being stifled by this dominance?  The MBC cure will be here when, a little company from nowhere, could come up with a good idea (there are many), get a few million dollars and spend 2 years to get this drug through clinical trial process, and come up with blockbuster drug.    At the same time, hundreds of other outfits are trying different ideas different angles different implementations. Smaller, smarter, faster.   That is how innovation works.   Current clinical trial process MUST be modified.   If the duopoly of innovation is blocking competition, then this duopoly needs to be modified.