Perjeta: Also developed by Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY), Perjeta was approved by the FDA in June to treat metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer for those patients who have received no prior treatment. It was approved in combination with Herceptin and chemotherapy agent docetaxel. Based on clinical trials, Perjeta extended the overall median progression-free survival to 18.5 months compared to just 12.4 months for the placebo.
However, not every drug vying for approval in breast cancer has received the green light from the FDA — not even the incredibly dominant Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY). In 2011, Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY)’s Avastin, which had been approved by the FDA under an accelerated review basis to treat breast cancer in 2008, had its approval revoked. The FDA ruled that Avastin’s survival benefits in breast cancer were minimal compared to its potential serious side effects including high blood pressure and hemorrhaging.
What’s coming down the pipeline
Now that you have a better feel for what the current standard of treatment looks like for the early and late stages of breast cancer, let’s take a look at some of the upcoming treatments that could revolutionize breast cancer treatment.
Kadcyla: Developed by Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY) (did you really expect anyone else?) and ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) , Kadcyla (formerly T-DM1) received FDA approval just three weeks ago as a secondary treatment for HER2 positive breast cancer. What makes Kadcyla so unique is that it combines successful HER2 protein suppressing drug Herceptin with ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN)’s targeted antibody payload technology which allows concentrated forms of chemotherapy toxins to be delivered directly to tumor cells with minimal healthy cell damage. This combination gives Herceptin another revenue pathway (with European patents set to begin expiring next year) while allowing ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) to show off its targeted antibody payload technology to the world. In clinical trials, Kadcyla demonstrated progression-free survival of 9.6 months and an overall median survival time of 30.9 months compared to a PFS of 6.4 months and a median survival time of 25.1 months for the control arm led by Glaxo’s Tykerb & Roche’s Xeloda.
Lymphoseek: Diagnostics can be just as important in dealing with breast cancer as the treatments, which makes Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB)‘ Lymphoseek a game-changer. Lymphoseek is an external lymph-node imaging and intra-operative lymphatic mapping diagnostic device that will help physicians determine whether breast cancer has spread into adjacent lymph nodes. Based on numerous comparative trials versus the current standard diagnostic method, Pharmalucence’s sulfur colloid injection, Lymphoseek produced fewer false positive and fewer adverse reactions. Lymphoseek was denied approval in September because of FDA concerns related to a third-party manufacturer, but I don’t anticipate it being a long-term problem for the company.
Nexavar + Xeloda: I wouldn’t place this one at the top of my list, but early stage results from the combination of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX)‘ liver and kidney cancer drug Nexavar and Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY)’s Xeloda signify that there may be potential for the drug as a breast cancer treatment. Phase 3 trials are currently under way, but we likely won’t know the results for quite some time.
Your best investment
If you haven’t figured it out by now, Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (PINK:RHHBY) is clearly the company to own if you want breast cancer treatment exposure! Roche is finding meaningful new ways to extend the patent life of its blockbuster Herceptin through combination therapies and has an array of cancer combatants that work via different pathways which gives it the upper hand when it comes to finding new combination partners.
If you’re willing to take a bit more risk, I happen to think ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) will offer the best risk-reward ratio. Although it’ll only see somewhere in the 3% to 5% range with regard to royalties on sales of Kadcyla, it’s all about flaunting its TAP technology. Geared as a combination therapy, it won’t take long for ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN)’s technology to start being combined with blockbuster FDA-approved drugs to increase PFS and median overall survivals for multiple types of cancers — including breast cancer.
Stay tuned next week when we tackle the current and upcoming therapies for the treatment of lung cancer in this Tackling Cancer series.
The article Tackling Cancer: Breast Cancer’s Biggest Current & Upcoming Players originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool recommends ImmunoGen.
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