Zytiga is the Darling of the Day. Really!

Zytiga was in news today, but more so were its competitors, Provenge and MDV3100. The big news was early unblinding of Zytiga trial in metastatic prostate cancer patients due to significant improvement seen in progression-free survival (PFS) and other endpoints.

Deploying Immunotherapeutic Drones for Cancer

Nearly six scores ago, a Westfield, Connecticut, based bone surgeon, William Coley, injected a mixture of dead Streptococcus pyrogens and dead Serratia marcescens bacteria (called Coley's vaccine or Coley's toxins) in patients' tumors and obtained a near-complete remission.  Nearly a quarter century after his death, the powerful immune stimulant in Coley's vaccine was identified as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in 1968.  Today, there is a renewed interest in Coley's approach and the immunotherapeutic strategies to control cancer.

MDV1300 Making a Mark While Provenge Takes a Deep Plunge

Today San Francisco-based Medivation, Inc., ($MDVN) saw its stock value scale El Capitan within a day.  This coming on the heels of Dendreon Corp. ($DNDN) losing a huge chunk of its stock value yesterday is a good example of human psychology.  We reward "optimism" over "cautious behavior."  

The Prostate Cancer: New drugs in the post “Abiraterone-Jevtana-Provenge” world

The success of three new drugs (Abiraterone, Jevtana and Provenge) for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) this year, each targeting different pathways, and all showing an overall survival benefit, has raised the bar for those dreaming to join the club.  There is at least one riding the popularity vote, MDV3100, which may complete phase 3 next year.  Still, many struggle and plough through phase  1 and 2.  One way to understand, what may make some of them unique – and the reason they may evolve into serious competition one day – is to lay them out in separate classes or targets.  This is what I have done below.

And the three co-winners in the 2010 race to beat Metastatic Advanced Prostate Cancer are Abiraterone, Jevtana and Provenge

Following the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study COU-AA-301  released at the 35th Annual European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress on October 11, 2010 (ESMO abstract LBA5), abiraterone has emerged as a third new treatment option for metastatic advanced prostate cancer (also referred to as hormone-refractory or castration-resistant prostate cancer [HRPC or CRPC]) this year.