Page 4 - Cancer Drugs

Disparities between rich, poor nations in cancer drugs availability: Study

New cancer drugs launched each year increased from 0.5 in the 1990s to over eight in 2022 among high-income countries, whereas they increased from 0.1 to 1.5 a year among upper-middle-income countries, according to a global analysis revealing "significant" and "widening" disparities. New drug launches remained minimal in lower-middle-income and low-income countries, it found. Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Global Health, the analysis highlighted significant disparities in both availability and timeliness of these medicines worldwide, according to researchers. The inequities could explain the poor cancer outcomes across many countries, especially the low- and middle-income ones, where mortality-to-incidence ratios have been studied to be higher, despite overall cases being lower, the researchers, including those from The Pennsylvania State University, US, said. The measure 'mortality-to-incidence ratio' is used to compare inequities in cancer outcomes. It is calculat

Zydus Lifesciences receives USFDA approval to produce prostrate cancer drug

Zydus Lifesciences on Wednesday said it has received approval from the US health regulator to produce a generic prostate cancer treatment drug. The company has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture Enzalutamide tablets (40 mg and 80 mg), the drug maker said in a regulatory filing. Enzalutamide tablets are androgen receptor inhibitors indicated for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. The product would be manufactured at the Group's manufacturing site at SEZ, Ahmedabad. As per IQVIA MAT July 2024 data, Enzalutamide tablets (40 mg and 80 mg) had annual sales of USD 1,417.2 million in the US. The Zydus group now has 400 approvals and has so far filed over 465 Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDAs) since the commencement of the filing process in FY 2003-04, it said.

Sun Pharma signs licensing pact with Philogen for cancer medication

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Tuesday said it has inked a global licensing pact with Italian-Swiss firm Philogen for an anti-cancer drug. As per the agreement, Sun Pharma will have the exclusive worldwide rights to commercialise Fibromun, a speciality product of Philogen. Fibromun, an innovative anti-cancer immunotherapy, is being investigated in registration trials by Philogen for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma and glioblastoma. As per the pact, Philogen will complete the ongoing pivotal clinical trials for the product, pursue marketing authorisation with regulatory authorities, and manufacture commercial supplies, the Mumbai-based drug major said in a statement. Sun Pharma will be responsible for commercialisation activities, it added. The two partner companies will share post-commercialisation economics in about 45(Philogen):55(Sun Pharma) ratio, Sun Pharma said. The company did not disclose other financial terms. "Fibromun's progress through development has been qui

AstraZeneca's experimental drug disappoints in breast cancer survival trial

The overall survival, or OS rates, in the TROPION-Breast01 Phase III trial of datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), did not achieve statistical significance

Quad leaders to unveil milestone initiative to combat cancer during summit

Top Quad leaders will unveil a "milestone" initiative on Saturday to prevent, detect, treat and alleviate the impact of cancer on patients and their families, when they gather in Wilmington in the US for their annual summit. Being hosted by US President Joe Biden, the "Quad Leaders Summit" will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese and Japan's Fumio Kishida. The leaders are expected to deliberate on pressing global challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, escalating tensions in West Asia and the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific. At a media briefing on Modi's visit to the United States from September 21-23, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the "signature" "Cancer Moonshot" event will take place on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware. "One of the signature initiatives to be unveiled on the sidelines is the Cancer Moonshot event," he said. "Through this milestone initiative, the Quad aims to ...

Japanese firm Daiichi wants to go alone in search of targeted cancer drugs

AstraZeneca Plc and Daiichi's breast cancer drug Enhertu is based off of Daiichi's antibody-drug conjugate platform DXd, and was the top-selling ADC globally in 2023

ICMR to advance 1st in-human trials for Zika, flu, blood cancer therapies

First-in-human trial is a type of clinical trial in which a new drug, procedure or treatment is tested in humans for the first time

GST cut on key cancer drugs set to boost patient coverage, say experts

Move is part of ongoing initiatives to reduce financial burden for cancer patients

Cheaper cancer drugs, pricier cars: Here's what 54th GST Council discussed

Key changes were proposed that could affect what consumers pay for certain goods and services. Here's what may get pricier and what might ease your wallet if the proposals are accepted

GSK wins latest trial on cancer claims for heartburn drug Zantac: Official

The companies collectively are facing thousands of lawsuits against them in courts across the United States

Is lung cleansing effective for prevention of lung cancer? Check details

Lung cleansing, or lung detoxification, is said to be the process to clean the lungs of pollutants, toxins and mucus. Here's all you need to know about lung cleansing

Pfizer raises annual profit forecast on strong sales of cancer, heart drugs

The market for pharmaceutical products used in managing Covid-19 has shrunk by billions of dollars a year, including for Pfizer's vaccines and treatments

Cancers in head, neck rising, account for 26% cases in India: Study

Around 26 per cent of cancer patients in India have tumours in the head and neck, and there is an upward trend of such cases in the country, a study has found. The findings of the study, conducted on 1,869 cancer patients across the country, were released on the World Head and Neck Cancer Day observed on Saturday. Cancer Mukt Bharat Foundation, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, conducted the study by collating data from calls received on its helpline number from March 1 to June 30. Dr. Ashish Gupta, a senior oncologist who is heading the Cancer Mukt Bharat Campaign in India, said that India is seeing surge in head and neck cancer cases, especially among young men, due to increased tobacco consumption and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. "Around 80-90 pc of oral cancer patients have been found to use tobacco in some form, be it smoking or chewing. Most of the head and neck cancer are preventable, unlike other cancers for which the reason is unknown. It is a preventable ..

Cancer cases rising, prices of essential drugs kept in check: Nadda

The government makes all efforts to ensure affordable and accessible treatment is available for cancer patients amid a rise in cases in India, Health Minister JP Nadda said on Friday. Replying to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Nadda said the government made all efforts to ensure that affordable and accessible treatment was available to the patients. "The number of cancer cases is going up, it is increasing by almost 2.5 per cent every year," Nadda said. In men, cases of oral and lung cancer are on the up while more women are getting breast cancer, he added. More than 15.5 lakh cancer cases are being registered every year, Nadda said. "There is a list of 131 essential cancer medicines, which are in Schedule 1, (that) are monitored and (their) pricing is decided by the government. These are the commonly used medicines," Nadda said. He said patients cumulatively saved around Rs 294 crore due to this price control. "There are 28 combinations, which ar

Scientists make progress in cancer research onboard ISS, NASA announces

Nasa scientists, doctors and researchers are involved in the White House's Cancer Moonshot initiative that aims to cut national cancer rates by at least 50 per cent over the next 25 years

Cancer risk from some pesticides comparable to that due to smoking: Study

The effect of exposure to certain pesticides "rivalled" that of smoking in increasing cancer risk in farmers, according to a US study that compiled 69 such chemicals, including four commonly used in India. Researchers found that for three types of cancer -- non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia and bladder cancer -- the effects of pesticide exposure were "more pronounced" than those of smoking, widely acknowledged as a cancer risk factor. "We present a list of major pesticide contributors for some specific cancers but we highlight strongly that it is the combination of all of them and not just a single one that matters," senior author Isain Zapata, an associate professor at the Rocky Vista University, US, said. The list, compiled in the study published in the journal Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, features 69 pesticides, including 2,4-D, Acephate, Metolachlor, Methomyl. These four are among many commonly used in India to combat various threats to crop yields, such as insects an

3 cancer drugs now exempt from customs duty; X-ray tubes to become cheaper

The Union minister also brought down the customs duty on X-ray tubes used in medical X-ray machines

Zydus Lifesciences gets Mexican authority nod for cancer remedy biosimilar

Zydus Lifesciences Ltd on Monday said it has received marketing approval from the Mexican regulatory authority for its biosimilar product -- Bhava, used in the treatment of certain types of cancers. Mexican regulatory authority COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risk), has granted marketing approval for Bhava, a Bevacizumab biosimilar and it will be marketed in different strengths of 100 mg/4 ml and 400 mg/16 ml, Zydus Lifesciences said in a regulatory filing. Bhava is used in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, glioblastoma, advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma and ovarian cancer patients, it added. Zydus Managing Director, Sharvil Patel said the approval granted by COFEPRIS is the company's first biosimilars for patients in Latin America. "To bring in greater access and affordability to patients battling critical ailments, we have been developing a pipelin

Delhi fake cancer drugs case: How top hospitals became involved in the scam

Delhi Police chargesheet reveals eight victims, one fatality in fake cancer drug scam. It seized over 140 vials of the fake chemotherapy drug, which had a market value of around Rs 4 crore

AstraZeneca chemotherapy gets US nod for certain type of endometrial cancer

Endometrial cancer ranks as the fourth most prevalent cancer among women in the US. In 2022, it affected more than 66,000 patients