United States – Pfizer (PFE. N) is working to bring more doctors’ attention to and testing of a rare lung cancer mutation that the pharmaceutical manufacturer believes could grow into a standard treatment with its help for the drug Braftovi, as reported by Reuters.
Promising Phase 2 Data for Braftovi
The company shared Phase 2 follow-up data on Saturday involving NSCLC patients with BRAF V600E-mutant metastatic who received Braftovi and another formerly known as lead product candidate Mektovi in the first-line setting. The study also revealed that they had slightly more than two and half years of progression free survival which is the time taken for the treated patients to die from the cancer.
Bios said the data gives support to the drug being considered as the standard of care for that group and that Pfizer said it will take up to 60% of the market in the lung cancer patients with the mutation.
Current Testing and Treatment Landscape
He said about 2 percent to 3 percent of lung cancer patients are associated with the specific mutation.
Standard of care for such patients is at the moment an immunotherapy with chemotherapy, Boshoff said. approved use of Braftovi in combination with Mektovi in patients with the non-small cell lung cancer since the last year.
“All patients with lung cancer should be tested for BRAF mutations, and that could be done with a simple blood test,” he said. “It’s a relatively easy test to identify these patients who clearly would benefit significantly from having a targeted therapy.”
He stated that less than half of all lung cancer patients in the U. S. are now being tested for the mutation. That number is even lower is globally.
“This is a space where Pfizer is particularly well equipped, not just in the US, but globally, to encourage testing and to help educate physicians, pathologists, patients, and patient advocate groups,” Boshoff said. He said the test is covered by insurance in the U.S.
Sales Performance and Future Prospects
Pfizer posted nearly $400m of sales for Braftovi and Mektovi in the last year while based on data of LSEG, analysts do not see the growth of sales for these drugs within the next years, as reported by Reuters. Another area that Boshoff suggested Braftovi could grow in is colorectal cancer where BRAF mutated cancers constitutes 10 percent of the cancers. Regarding the company’s Late-stage study in Colorectal cancer, Mr. Henry said that the data is expected to be released by the en