Innovators

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Intraoperative Radiation Therapy

INTRAOPERATIVE RADIATION THERAPY is a single highly targeted, powerful dose of radiation delivered during surgery after the removal of a tumor. After receiving this treatment, the patient will most likely never need any additional radiation therapy, as opposed to normal radiation therapy which is often not easily accessible and is expensive. Being that this is a cheaper alternative to normal radiation therapies, and that there are an estimated 300,000 new cases of breast cancer per year, there is an extremely large market for this treatment.

An INTRABEAM: Delivers low level X-ray photons

The largest study conducted involving this study, TARGIT-A went on for five years and involved more than 25 scientists, including Professor Jayant S Vaidya, Professor Michael Baum, and Professor Jeffrey S. Tobias. It was funded by University College London Hospitals (UCLH)/UCL Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre, UCLH Charities, National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme, Ninewells Cancer Campaign, National Health and Medical Research Council, and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Results of the TARGIT A trial.

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Rituximab

RITUXIMAB was the first targeted cancer treatment drug approved by the FDA. It is a monoclonal antibody meant to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia and certain types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The market for this drug is very large, considering that there are an estimated 70,000 new cases of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma a year.

Rituximab is produced through mammalian cell suspension culture in nutrient medium with the antibiotic gentamicin, however gentamicin is not detectable in the final product. The drug is a clear, sterile, and preservative free concentrate for delivery intravenously.

A diagram of Rituximab binding to the CD20 protein. This not only leads to the death of the B Cells, but also the cancerous cells.

Rituximab, or Rituxan, is co-marketed by Genentech and Biotgen Idec. The NCI originally funded Cesar Milstein, and Georges Kohler in working toward creating a treatment by producing antibodies that target specific proteins. After this, in 1988 scientists identified the protein designated as CD20. It was found that scientists could use CD20 to eliminate cancerous cells, along with mature B cells, but leaving the immature B cells alive to replenish the supply.

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MOPP Chemotherapy Regiment

MOPP, a combination of Mustargen, Oncovin, Procarbazine, and Prednisone is used to treat Hodgkin’s disease. It is administered in four week cycles, in six cycles. It uses a combination of intravenous delivery and oral pills. It was developed at NCI in the 1960’s and paved the road for combination chemotherapy, as it was the first to achieve a high success rate. MOPP has achieved a cure rate of 50% with advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma patients. Given that there are more than 70,000 new cases of Hodgkin Lymphoma, there is a large market for this product.

As stated, MOPP was developed at the National Cancer Institute. In it’s infancy, it was developed by Vincent DeVita, Jr, D. L. Longo, R. C. Young, M. Wesley, S. M. Hubbard, P. L. Duffey, and E. S. Jaffe. It was funded by the National Cancer Institute, of course.

The four drugs that make up MOPP: Mustargen, Oncovin, Prednisone, and Procarbizone

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Imatinib

Imatinib is used to treat advanced Philadelphia chromosome chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. It does this by inhibiting a signal sent by abnormal tyrosine kinase proteins found on certain cancer cells. The signals sent tell the cancer cells to divide and live, and allowing imatinib to inhibit this signal stops the cancer cells from dividing, and causes them to die.

Imatinib is marketed as Gleevec by Novartis. This drug was approved by the FDA in May 2011. Dr. Brian Druker, Dr. Nicholas Lydon, and Dr. Charles Sawyers collaborated to create this drug, and in 1998 a clinical trial was conducted to test the drug’s effectiveness and determine the patients who were most likely to benefit from this drug.

The Philadelphia Chromosome

Results of the 1998 Imatinib Clinical Trial

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Ipilimumab

IPILIMUMAB is used to treat melanoma, the most fatal skin cancer. In 2012 in the US alone, melanoma killed more than 9,000 people. This drug gives people with metastatic melanoma an average of 10 months. While this may seem like a short time, one must keep in mind that there is only a 10 to 20 percent chance of living five years with this disease. As about 75,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma a year, and around 3,000 of those cases are metastatic, there is a relatively large market for this product

Ipilimumab, or Yervoy, works by binding to CTLA-4, a molecule on the surface of Cytotoxic T cells, which kill foreign and abnormal cells inside the body. Dendritic cells bind to CTLA-4 and inhibits the cytotoxic reaction of Cytotoxic T cells. This allows for cancer cells to survive. Ipilimumab works by blocking the CTLA-4 signal, allowing Cytotoxic T cells to freely destroy cancer cells. The leading researches of this drug were Dr. F. Stephen Hodi of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Dr. Jeffrey A. Sosman of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Dr. Jedd D. Wolchok Center and Research Institute. The drug was funded by Bristol Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company that has invested 3.7 billion in the discovery and development of many drugs.

Drug Discovery: Synthesizing an End to Cancer