Imatinib And Sunitinib Will Continue To Dominate Patient Share In The Patient Populations That They Are Approved For Through 2023

BURLINGTON, Mass., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that the treatment landscape of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) will not change dramatically through 2023 as no new therapies are expected to launch for this indication. Treatment of GIST is largely dependent on tumor size, location and growth rate and is commonly treated by surgical resection and/or the targeted therapies, imatinib (Novartis's Gleevec/Glivec), Sunitinib (Pfizer's Sutent) and Regorafenib (Bayer HealthCare's Stivarga).

Imatinib is currently and will remain the most commonly prescribed agent through 2023 in this indication. Sunitinib, the second-line standard of care, is approved for patients who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib. Regorafenib is the most recent addition to the GIST armamentarium; it is approved in the United States and Europe for treating patients with progressive disease who have received both imatinib and sunitinib. We expect regorafenib to become the third-line standard of care for unresectable and/or metastatic GIST by the end of our forecast period in all major markets.

Other key findings from the Niche Markets and Rare Diseases report entitled Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors:

• Incidence: The number of incident cases of GIST in the major markets under study will increase by approximately 1.3 percent annually over the 2013 to 2023 forecast period, thereby contributing to the increase in the size of drug-treatable populations and providing a greater number of drug-treatment opportunities.
• Drug development activity: Although we do not expect the launch of new therapies for the treatment of GIST during our forecast period, we do anticipate significant advances in R&D of new therapies for use in this indication.
• GIST Landscape 2023: The patent expiry of the patient share leaders, imatinib and sunitinib, in all markets under study will mark the entry of less costly generic versions of these agents. These events will have considerable impact over our ten-year study period.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Analyst Kirsha Naicker, M.Sc., Ph.D.:

• "Although the emerging agents are in early stages of development, interviewed experts state that the combination of emerging agents and current therapies may be the way forward in satisfying the unmet needs in GIST as they may prove more effective than monotherapies particularly for later line treatment."
• "Interviewed experts tell us that mutational analysis is becoming increasingly important in the treatment of GIST, influencing treatment decisions based on mutational status, thereby making treatment more personalized."

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Decision Resources Group
Christopher Comfort
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SOURCE Decision Resources Group