Oncology: May 2010 Archives

Mass screening or rational design? Malcolm Gladwell, the 10,000-hours guy with Leo Sayer's hair, examines the monumental barriers to finding effective treatments for cancer in the upcoming issue of the New Yorker.

Given the oppressive anti-pharma mood generated by mainstream media and Marcia Angell, it's refreshing to have Gladwell remind us—in a really entertaining way, no less—just how "boinking" hard it is to bring an effective and safe cancer therapy to market.

By using newly released data from Thomson Reuters (for 2010 and 2014) and EvaluatePharma (for 2016), a timeline graphic of the 7 drugs that are expected to remain within the top 10 best sellers is presented. Notably only 1 of the 7, Crestor, is a conventional pill.

 

Advair (fluticasone/salmeterol; GSK) and Remicade (infliximab; Centocor Ortho Biotech) lose position, while the other drugs are expected to rise on the list. The future top seller, depending on your source, is Humira (adalimumab; Abbott) or Avastin (bevacizumab; Roche).