Medivation And Astellas Pharma Prostate Cancer Drug Looks Promising
The prostate cancer drug Xtandi, when used before chemotherapy, delayed the growth of tumors and lengthened the lives of men who had advanced stage prostate cancer. Xtandi was also able to lower the risk of cancer worsening and lengthened the time period before chemotherapy was medically necessary.
The Xtandi drug is expected to compete with Johnson & Johnson’s Zytiga if the study is favorable, and a positive outlook could raise the drug’s profile along with company profits. Xtandi is also a popular treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer because many do not have debilitating symptoms and favor taking a drug instead of intense and painful chemotherapy sessions with the potential for unwanted side effects.
Published findings for the Xtandi study show that men who take the drug live an average of 32.4 months, compared to 30.2 months with placebo. The study, sponsored by Medivation and Astellas, contained over 1,717 thousand subjects in multiple countries around the world with advanced prostate cancer.
While investors are wondering how Xtandi stands up to J&J’s Zytiga, the current favorite for prostate cancer, doctors and researchers are claiming that it is too soon to compare the two drugs. Although both have the potential to help patients, neither have been tested against each other in a clinical study. Even so, investors are already claiming that Xtandi looks very promising. A JPMorgan analyst was quoted as saying Xtandi was “very impressive and helped solidify Xtandi’s place ahead of Zytiga in the pre-chemo setting.”
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