Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Bayer has high expectations for cancer drug, anetumab:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-18/bayer-s-euphoria-around-new-cancer-medicine-met-with-skepticism

Developed with technology from ImmunoGen Inc. and MorphoSys AG, the experimental therapy targets mesothelin, a protein on the surface of many tumor cells, to prevent them from growing and dividing.

A higher number of copies of the protein are present in people with mesothelioma, which is why Bayer is initially targeting that population in its drug studies, though it has also been detected in patients with ovarian and pancreatic cancer. Just 2,000 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year in the U.S., and the disease will probably become less prevalent thanks to anti-asbestos building codes.

… Bayer now plans to study the drug’s effectiveness in 210 people whose cancers got worse after chemotherapy treatment, with results expected from the mid-stage study in November 2017.

If anetumab hits its 2 billion-euro target, it would become Bayer’s biggest oncology medicine by far, nearly on par with last year’s revenue from top-selling blood thinner Xarelto.