Roche announces the termination of several drug research programs such as macular degeneration

Roche announces the termination of several drug research programs such as macular degeneration

February 02, 2018 Source: Sina Pharmaceutical

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The problem facing biopharmaceutical giant Roche is that its three cash cows, Avastin, Herceptin and rituxima are threatened by biosimilars. Since last summer, Roche has been cutting off some product lines.

In September 2017, Roche's Phase III ophthalmic lampalizumab failed to meet the test endpoint for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)-induced map atrophy (GA). Recently, the company revealed that it has decided to completely cancel the drug development plan.

Previously, analysts have said that if lampalizumab can successfully reach its main test end point, Roche will likely harvest a drug with sales of billions of dollars. However, as far as the current situation is known, this vision has vanished. In addition to lampalizumab, Roche announced in its latest financial report that it is eliminating the development plans for several other drug projects.

The financial report showed that Roche plans to cut four drugs. Lampalizumab is the only product in the late stage of research, and the other three drugs are in the early stages of development. In addition, Roche has terminated two oncology projects and a study to treat schizophrenia. Specific drugs include RG7203, a selective small molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 10A; RG7986, for refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and for metastatic estrogen receptor-positive, HER2 Negative breast cancer treatment drug RG6047.

In July 2017, Roche announced that it has re-optimized and integrated its product line due to a series of drug trial failures and increasing competitive pressures in the biosimilars market.

Roche CEO Severin Schwan said biosimilars will have a significant negative impact on the company's sales revenue. However, he is confident that the strength of the optimized portfolio of investment drugs and the introduction of new drugs will offset the competitive pressures of generic drugs.

In addition, Schwan said that the following three drugs are expected to continue to be a strong driving force for Roche's growth. They are the multiple sclerosis treatment drug Octreus, the immunotherapy drug Tecentriq, and the lung cancer drug Alecensa. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the licensing of the Octreus in March 2017. The drug is also the first and only drug approved in the United States for the treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Roche is looking forward to the prospects of the drug, and it is expected that Ocrevus may become a blockbuster drug in 2018, which will bring a lot of income to Roche.

It is worth noting that Roche's sales growth of more than two-thirds is due to the latest marketed drugs. Relevant data show that sales of new drugs will continue to grow this year, which will likely compensate the company for the loss of revenue from the decline in sales of old drugs such as Aventine and rituximab. (Sina Pharmaceutical Compilation / Fan Dongdong)

Articles, images reference source: Roche Throws in the Towel on a Host of Early, Late-Stage Drug Candidates

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