Saturday, September 30, 2006
New cancer drug
BIOMAB-EGFR is the first new drug in the world which was at least partly developed by an Indian company. Last week, Biocon, the company that developed it, launched the drug in Bangalore and Mumbai with the minimum of fuss. Cancer, in seemed, was too grave a disease.
Biocon describes the drug as the first humanised anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody in the world. In commercial terms, this description may not mean much: pharmaceutical history is replete with examples of drugs which swept away their predecessors in no time. But in scientific terms, it could be termed a significant landmark, particularly for an Indian company, although Biocon was not part of the original discovery. BIOMAb-EGFR was discovered by the Cuban Institute CIMAB and then developed in India by Biocon, which, at the moment, holds rights of the product in the Saarc countries.
Let us decode the nomenclature first. EGFR is an acronym for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor. A receptor is, as the name implies, a part of the cell that receives another molecule, usually something that gives a signal to start a series of events in the cell. When a molecule binds to EGFR, it starts a chain of events that finally result in cell division. Since cancer is uncontrolled cell division, we could argue that EGFR can be part of a strategy to stop cell division.
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A monoclonal antibody is, as the name suggests, derived from a single clone of cells. Our bodies produce antibodies all the time, but in nature even antibodies against the same antigen — an invading molecule — look different, except for the part that can recognise the intruder. When produced artificially, antibodies are exactly alike because they are made from a single source. Monoab-EGFR is a monoclonal antibody that can bind to EGFR and shut it off. The cell cannot divide again.
This description makes it all seem simple, but it is not. The drug has to go and bind to the receptors only on the cancer cells. Shutting off cell division in normal cells can be disastrous. Fortunately, this problem is reduced somewhat because cancer cells have a preponderance of EGFRs. Monoab-EGFR seems to go and bind to cancer cells preferentially because they have an excessive number of EGFRs. The drug appears to be good at treating cancers that have a large number of EGFRs, like in head and neck cancer and glioma, a type of brain cancer.
At the moment, Monoab-EGFR is given to patients who have undergone surgery or radiation therapy. Clinical trials show that this improves the life of patients. The drug also does not show too much toxicity. CIMAB has licensed the molecule all over the world, except in small countries and Latin America. Yet Biocon treats this product as a beginning. The next product, anti-CD6, is just finishing Phase I clinical trials. This drug works on a novel target that has been patented by CIMAB, but Biocon jointly owns the marketing rights to the entire world. The target CD6 is involved in inflammation, a disorder that is intimately connected to cancer.Observers will be watching this product closely. Biocon, meanwhile, has mastered the technology to develop and manufacture monoclonal antibodies. Since this $15-billion market segment is expected to double in value in a few years, everyone will be watching Biocon also closely.
P Hari in Businessworld
Biocon describes the drug as the first humanised anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody in the world. In commercial terms, this description may not mean much: pharmaceutical history is replete with examples of drugs which swept away their predecessors in no time. But in scientific terms, it could be termed a significant landmark, particularly for an Indian company, although Biocon was not part of the original discovery. BIOMAb-EGFR was discovered by the Cuban Institute CIMAB and then developed in India by Biocon, which, at the moment, holds rights of the product in the Saarc countries.
Let us decode the nomenclature first. EGFR is an acronym for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor. A receptor is, as the name implies, a part of the cell that receives another molecule, usually something that gives a signal to start a series of events in the cell. When a molecule binds to EGFR, it starts a chain of events that finally result in cell division. Since cancer is uncontrolled cell division, we could argue that EGFR can be part of a strategy to stop cell division.
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
A monoclonal antibody is, as the name suggests, derived from a single clone of cells. Our bodies produce antibodies all the time, but in nature even antibodies against the same antigen — an invading molecule — look different, except for the part that can recognise the intruder. When produced artificially, antibodies are exactly alike because they are made from a single source. Monoab-EGFR is a monoclonal antibody that can bind to EGFR and shut it off. The cell cannot divide again.
This description makes it all seem simple, but it is not. The drug has to go and bind to the receptors only on the cancer cells. Shutting off cell division in normal cells can be disastrous. Fortunately, this problem is reduced somewhat because cancer cells have a preponderance of EGFRs. Monoab-EGFR seems to go and bind to cancer cells preferentially because they have an excessive number of EGFRs. The drug appears to be good at treating cancers that have a large number of EGFRs, like in head and neck cancer and glioma, a type of brain cancer.
At the moment, Monoab-EGFR is given to patients who have undergone surgery or radiation therapy. Clinical trials show that this improves the life of patients. The drug also does not show too much toxicity. CIMAB has licensed the molecule all over the world, except in small countries and Latin America. Yet Biocon treats this product as a beginning. The next product, anti-CD6, is just finishing Phase I clinical trials. This drug works on a novel target that has been patented by CIMAB, but Biocon jointly owns the marketing rights to the entire world. The target CD6 is involved in inflammation, a disorder that is intimately connected to cancer.Observers will be watching this product closely. Biocon, meanwhile, has mastered the technology to develop and manufacture monoclonal antibodies. Since this $15-billion market segment is expected to double in value in a few years, everyone will be watching Biocon also closely.
P Hari in Businessworld
