Maybe there is hope for the grandmothers of the world, after all...still nothing for the brain..
Drug Giants Gang Up On Rheumatoid Arthritis
Matthew Herper, 01.02.03, 8:50 AM ET
NEW YORK - On Tuesday afternoon, Abbott Laboratories received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Humira, a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott expects Humira to eventually hit the $1 billion sales mark, though it will have to fight a marketing battle against large established players--and even more competition could be on the way.
More than 5 million people suffer from rheumatoid arthritis worldwide. While most arthritis results from the wear and tear of bone and connective tissue, rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system attacks the joints of the hands, feet and wrists, slowly destroying them from the inside out. Many patients face eventual disability and premature death. Existing treatments, including Humira, slow the disease but don't stop it. Patients and doctors need all the help they can get--and that unmet medical need is making drug companies salivate.
Humira works in basically the same way as existing medicines made by Amgen (nasdaq: AMGN - news - people ) and Johnson & Johnson (nyse: JNJ - news - people ). These biotech drugs, all of which must be injected, work by binding to a molecule called the tumor necrosis factor. TNF is involved in inflammation, and blocking it appears to slow the deterioration of patients' joints.
Abbott (nyse: ABT - news - people ) is betting that Humira can make inroads by being more convenient and perhaps safer than these other drugs. Patients will take the drug every other week using a prepackaged syringe. Amgen's Enbrel, in contrast, will have to be given at least once a week even after new dosing rules go into effect, and the drug is more difficult to mix. Johnson & Johnson's Remicade only needs to be given once a month, but patients must go to the doctor to have the drug injected directly into a vein.
But rheumatoid arthritis patients are likely to receive cocktails of medicines, including painkillers and other drugs meant to slow inflammation. Other drugmakers smell an opportunity--and a few are testing cancer drugs that are already on the market to see if they can ease the symptoms of the disease.
One promising entrant is Rituxan, a drug made by Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) to treat non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Early results from a midstage clinical study released in October were promising. Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people ) is also studying its drug Zometa, used to treat erosion of bone due to cancer, against rheumatoid arthritis. In the past, Novartis executives have said that any use of Zometa in rheumatoid arthritis is years away.
forbes.com |
