Pharmacyclic's Imbruvica: New Hope for Cancer Patients

Imbruvica, by Pharmacyclics (PCYC-$135.20), received accelerated approval for MCL based on a study where 111 participants were given Imbruvica daily until their disease progressed or side effects became intolerable. Results showed nearly 66 percent of participants had their cancer shrink or disappear after treatment (overall response rate).

Imbruvica blocks the function of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), a key signaling protein of the B-cell receptor signaling complexes that stimulate malignant B-cells to grow and divide uncontrollably.

MCL affects the white blood cells called lymphocytes found in the “mantle zone” of a lymph node. A rare form of NHL, and most prevalent in older adults (mean age, 68), MCL is an aggressive B-cell malignancy affecting about 6% of the 72,000 new cases of NHL diagnosed in the U.S. annually.

To date, first-line treatment has usually consisted of Roche’s monoclonal antibody Rituxan (rituximab) – which is directed against the CD20 antigen found on Beta lymphocytes – combined with a multi-agent chemotherapy regimen, most often CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone).

Given the complex pathophysiology of the disease (multiple cell-signaling division triggers), combined with a late-stage diagnosis typically discovered after the spread to the GI tract and bone marrow, MCL is characterized by short median survival times (3 – 5 years).

See more at YCharts: $10B Market By 2022: Pharmacyclic’s Piece of It

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy. 

Checking for Signs of Life at Vivus

Led by new chief executive Seth Fischer, Vivus (VVUS-$9.18) is walking a new path with its erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Stendra (avanafil), choosing to outsource promotion via licensing deals: in July 2013, VIVUS announced an exclusive pact worth up to $121 million (plus royalties) with the Italian pharmaceutical group Menarini to commercialize avanafil in Europe; Auxilium Pharma (AUXL), which already markets a portfolio of ED treatments, including testosterone and Xiaflex (recently approved for Peyronie’s disease – painful curvature of the penis caused by plaque buildup), inked a marketing deal worth up to $300 million to Vivus (plus royalties) for rights to Stendra in the U.S. and Canada.  

With ED afflicting up to 30 million men in this country alone, management opines that there remains significant commercial opportunity for Stendra to stake claim to a double-digit share of the $2.9 billion U.S. market. Unfortunately, peak sales estimates of $400 million - $500 million in 2016 (one-year prior to expiration of Cialis’ first key patent), could prove too optimistic.

Notwithstanding marketing claims, after adjusting for proper dosage, no one agent in the class has been shown to be more efficacious or safer than the others. How, therefore, are Vivus’s marketing partners going to surmount reimbursement challenges when therapeutic substitutions -- generic versions of Viagra -- are available at less than $2.00 per pill in most industrialized countries (save the U.S.)? Further, Auxilium has only about 150 sales representatives to sell the drug here at home.  

Read more at YCharts: New ED Drugs: Analysis of Vivus’s Prospects

Editor David J Phillips does not hold a financial interest in any stocks mentioned in this article. The 10Q Detective has a Full Disclosure Policy.