New Products Are Expected to Be Introduced to the Cancer Vaccine Market over the Next Five Years.

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 4, 2006 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c30125) has announced the addition of the Espicom Business Intelligence Ltd report Cancer Vaccine Developments To 2011 to their offering.
After years of promise, the cancer vaccine market is on the verge of huge growth - if it can overcome the clinical, regulatory and pharmacoeconomic obstacles.



With a number of product launches expected over the next five years, this insightful market report takes a balanced view of the players and products that will shape this much awaited market sector.
With two cancer vaccines already launched, M-Vax in Switzerland and OncoVAX in Switzerland and the Netherlands, industry and investor interest is increasingly looking at the significant number of cancer vaccines charging down the Phase II/III pipeline. Even though more than half the 105 products in late-stage research will fail to make it to registration, the next five years will see a number of novel drug launches in a range of key cancers such as melanoma and those of the lung, breast and prostate.
But key issues remain...
Promising clinical trial results need to be seen in the context of full-scale patient populations over several years. With only two products launched in small markets, and with treatment regimens sometimes lasting two years, the true picture could take several years.
Cancer vaccines have to be seen in the economic light, where pharmacoeconomic considerations are playing an increasingly important and influential role. While the profile of patient survival, reduced reoccurrence and fewer side effects are key benefits of cancer vaccines, pricing will be a key issue if they are to be widely adopted.
The next vaccines to reach the market look set to be those from Merck & Co/sanofi pasteur MSD and GlaxoSmithKline for the prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. However, even after approval, Cervarix and Gardasil will face a number of potential hurdles before reaching maximum sales revenue, including:
-- getting the vaccines onto US government programmes;
-- overcoming opposition from political groups surrounding use of the vaccine in certain age groups;
-- educating the public about the link between HPV and cervical cancer; and
-- persuading European government programmes and domestic private insurers to pay for the vaccines, which are expected to cost US$225 to US$350 for a course of three injections.
Regulatory and approval regimes need to develop quickly. Current procedures are not advanced and standardised response assessment criteria need to be established to facilitate the smooth approval of these vaccines.
Who are the players and products in the race to launch?
Currently, there are over 100 candidates in Phase II/III - attrition for a variety of clinical/economic reasons will see many fail to come to market. Now, with this insightful and data-rich management report Cancer Vaccine Developments to 2011, you can fully evaluate the products and their developers. In more than 110 pages, the report provides a complete review of the market and its likely development to 2011.
Well indexed and incorporating information from our extensive cancer databases, direct contact with developers and unique product launch timelines, the report is essential reading for investors, developers and industry professionals.
Summary
One of the most exciting emerging areas of cancer therapeutics is analysed in this new 110+ page strategic analysis that answers key questions such as...
Who's developing what, and with whom?
When are the products likely to come to market?
Which company is leading the race to develop a breast cancer vaccine?
What cancer vaccines are there in Phase II for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer?
Who holds the commercialisation rights to Medarex' MDX-010 melanoma vaccine?
What production issue may affect Alfacell's malignant mesothelioma treatment Onconase?
What unique regulatory hurdles must cancer vaccines overcome?
Cancers covered
Brain
Breast
Gastrointestinal
Genito-urinary
Gynaecological
Haematological
Head & Neck
Lung
Melanoma/Sarcoma
Types of Cancer Vaccines
Antigen/adjuvant vaccines
Whole-cell tumour vaccines
Dendritic cell vaccines
Viral vectors and DNA vaccines
Idiotype vaccines
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c30125
Contact Research and Markets Laura Wood Fax: +353 1 4100 980 press@researchandmarkets.com

Morphotek Expands Oncology Pipeline With Product Candidate From the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

EXTON, Pa., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Morphotek(R) Inc. announced today thatit has signed an exclusive, worldwide patent license agreement giving it theright to develop and commercialize an antibody for the diagnosis and treatmentof mesothelin-expressing cancers. The license was granted by the PublicHealth Service (PHS) and the NCI. This agreement is a result of an ongoingresearch collaboration where Morphotek is applying its proprietary antibodytechnologies to develop and optimize antibodies to cancer-associated proteinsidentified by researchers at the NCI. One of these antibodies "MORAb-009" isbeing developed by Morphotek for the treatment of pancreatic, ovarian and lungcancers and mesothelioma. "This agreement accelerates the evolution of Morphotek's business modelfrom a service-based enterprise to a biopharmaceutical development company.MORAb-009 is one of six therapeutic antibodies we are currently developing.We expect to file the Investigational New Drug Application for this product inearly 2006 which will contribute to our corporate goal of leveraging ourantibody technologies to file two INDs per year," said Dr. Nicholas C.Nicolaides, President and Chief Executive Officer of Morphotek. "The treatment of pancreatic cancer and other mesothelin-expressingmalignancies is an unmet medical need," said Dr. Martin Phillips, Senior VicePresident of Clinical Development. "We believe the mechanism of action and thetarget makes MORAb-009 an outstanding addition to our pipeline of antibodiesfor cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases. We look forward tocommencing clinical studies early in 2006." The first therapeutic indication for investigation will be for thetreatment of patients with pancreatic cancer. According to preliminarynumbers presented by the American Cancer Society, 32,180 Americans werediagnosed with and 31,800 died of pancreatic cancer in 2005, making this thefourth-leading cause of cancer death overall. A significant opportunityexists for compounds that can help prolong the survival of patients withpancreatic cancer as well as compounds that offer additional clinical benefitssuch as a lack of side effects and those that can improve quality of life.Ovarian and lung cancers and mesothelioma will be also evaluated for safetyand therapeutic efficacy during the MORAb-009 development program. Morphotek, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the generation ofproprietary proteins for product discovery and development. The Company has avalidated and patented platform technology called morphogenics that rapidlyenhances the natural process of genetic evolution within a targeted host toyield variants with novel, commercially important output traits. Morphotekmarkets an antibody development platform called Human MORPHODOMA(R) thatemploys morphogenics to yield fully human, high-affinity monoclonal antibodies(MAbs) from high-titer hybridoma cells. The platform is also employed as adiscovery tool to generate libraries of hybridomas yielding fully human MAbsfor the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in humans. Both platforms bypassthe burdensome royalty stacking issues associated with recombinant antibodytechnologies. Internally, Morphotek employs its technologies to develop itsoptimized therapeutic antibody pipeline for the treatment of cancer,inflammatory and infectious diseases. For further information visithttp://www.morphotek.com. Contact: Kimberly Ilgenfritz Executive Director, Business Development & Marketing 610-423-6147 info@morphotek.com