According to uk.reuters.com, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi is playing catch up to put itself ahead of the competition in developing the new cancer treatments. The French company didn’t join in on the most recent generation of immunotherapy drugs that began to gain momentum in the 2010s. However, the company is planning to change that, and has 10 new products in development. Of its current generation of therapies, one called cemiplimab is in the process of review in the US and EU for the treatment of squamous cell skin cancer. However, the company is also entering the rare cancer field with its product isatuximab, which is meant to target multiple myeloma.
About Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that affects plasma cells. These are a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. Cancerous plasma cells release abnormal antibodies that can cause systemic problems like thickened blood and kidney dysfunction. Risk factors for multiple myeloma include family history, certain chemicals, alcohol consumption, and obesity. Symptoms include bone pain, anemia, kidney failure, confusion, fatigue, headache, carpal tunnel, vision problems, incontinence, infections, and amyloidosis. This cancer is difficult to treat and almost always relapses. The overall five year survival rate is just 35 percent. To learn more about multiple myeloma, click here.
Isatuximab and the Immunotherapy Field
The company hopes for isatuximab to be under review either later this year or in early 2019. As of now, the immunotherapy field for cancer treatment is dense, with nearly 2,000 products; many drugs are also fairly similar to one another. Part of the reason that there are some many immunotherapies is that they often do not work for all patients.
Combination Therapies
Sanofi hopes to help resolve this issue by beginning to test different combinations of treatments in order to get improved responses. Drug combinations are difficult to get correct, but when they work, they can offer significant improvements in outcomes. Another key area that they company hopes to investigate further is molecular oncology, which is intended to target tumors based on their genetic profile.
The Sanofi has already launched some trials based on molecular oncology. Hopefully, this company will be able to pioneer new innovations that can help rare cancer patients.
