A Therapy for Stage III Colon Cancer that Improves Disease-Free Survival Over FOLFOX4 at Three Years Would Earn a 55 Percent Patient Share in The United States, According to Surveyed Oncologists

WALTHAM, Mass., March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that a therapy that improves disease-free survival over FOLFOX4* at three years for the treatment of stage III colon cancer would earn a 55 percent patient share in the United States, according to surveyed U.S. oncologists. In Europe, such an agent would earn a 50 percent patient share, according to surveyed European oncologists.

The new report entitled Colon Cancer (Stage III): Oncologists Eager for an Effective Targeted Therapy, but Will EGFR Inhibitors Fit the Bill? finds that a therapy's effect on overall survival is the attribute that most influences surveyed oncologists' prescribing decisions in the treatment of stage III colon cancer. Clinical data and the opinions of interviewed thought leaders indicate that current and emerging therapies have no advantage in this attribute over the sales-leading regimen of FOLFOX4.

The report also finds that, based on available data and expert opinion, FOLFOX4 will retain Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold standard for stage III colon cancer through 2018, owing primarily to its safety and tolerability. While some therapies in development for stage III colon cancer hold promise, most have safety and tolerability and/or delivery features that are inferior when compared with FOLFOX4. Bristol-Myers Squibb/Eli Lilly/ImClone Systems/Merck KGaA's Erbitux and Amgen's Vectibix are expected to have competitive advantages in efficacy over FOLFOX4, relating to the improvement in disease-free survival—however the increased toxicity burden, when used in addition to FOLFOX4, will be a barrier to their widespread use in this indication.

"Surveyed oncologists weighted efficacy as the most important consideration in their prescribing decisions and although Erbitux and Vectibix are likely to improve disease-free survival in a subset of patients, they will do so at the cost of substantially inferior safety and tolerability," said Decision Resources Analyst Natalia Reoutova. "As a result, substantial opportunity remains for a well-tolerated targeted agent in the treatment of stage III colon cancer."

*FOLFOX4 (5-fluorouracil, generics/leucovorin, generics/oxaliplatin [Sanofi-Aventis's Eloxatin/Eloxatine, Yakult Honsha's Elplat, generics])

About the Report

Colon Cancer (Stage III): Oncologists Eager for an Effective Targeted Therapy, but Will EGFR Inhibitors Fit the Bill? is a DecisionBase 2010 report. DecisionBase 2010 is a decision-support tool that provides in-depth analysis of unmet need, physician expectations of new therapies and commercial dynamics to help pharmaceutical companies optimize their investments in drug development. 

About Decision Resources

Decision Resources (www.DecisionResources.com) is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources and master their chosen markets. Decision Resources is a Decision Resources, Inc. company.

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SOURCE Decision Resources