Bio Spectrum — May 2017

(Jacob Rumans) #1
Lung cancer drug Tagrisso, from
AstraZeneca, is designed to help
cancer patients with certain genetic
mutations that are very common
in China. It is a cancer medicine
that interferes with the growth and
spread of cancer cells in the body.
Tagrisso is the first drug approved
by the China Food and Drug
Administration through a fast track
process.
AstraZeneca has a high sale
target in the field of lung cancer,
with a forecast rising to $2.8 billion
for 2022 with Tagrisso as the main

candidate. In comparison to the
West, about 30 to 40 per cent
of Asian patients suffering from
non-small cell lung cancer have
epidermal growth factor receptor
mutated tumours that respond to
Tagrisso. This makes China the
biggest market for the drug.
Tagrisso is currently being used
as a second-line therapy drug,
taken after administration of first-
line drugs such as Tarceva (Roche)
and Iressa (AstraZeneca). There
is a high possibility that this drug
would be shifted to the first-line

drug regimen after a clinical trial
this year. Investors are focusing on
conducting another clinical study for
testing a combination of two drugs in
the field of immunotherapy. Besides
AstraZeneca, others in line for this
opportunity are Merck, Bristol-
Myers Squibb and Roche.

US government scientists have been working
on developing a vaccine for fighting Zika.
The second phase testing of the vaccine has
begun and $100 million trial has been funded.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has reported that around 5,182 people
in the Continental US have been infected by
Zika either locally or through travel to places
where the virus is spreading. Another 38,303
cases have been reported in US territories,
including Puerto Rico.
Zika infection can spread through mosquito
bites, from a pregnant woman to her foetus,
through sex and through blood transfusion.
Zika infection during pregnancy can cause a
birth defect of the brain called microcephaly

and other severe foetal brain defects. The
current vaccine candidate for Zika has
cleared preliminary safety hurdles and is now
being tested for efficacy. The first phase will
involve evaluating the ability of the vaccine to
stimulate the immune system for developing
antibodies against Zika. The second phase will
be more focused on determining if the vaccine
can actually help in preventing Zika infection.
Several companies are developing Zika
vaccines, including Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline
and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The US
government is conducting discussions with
pharmaceutical companies for sharing the
costs of the final stage of testing and to handle
manufacturing.

A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) has been signed between
the National University of
Singapore and Holmusk for
improving healthcare delivery.
Holmusk is a digital health and
data analytics company based in
Singapore. The company plans on
developing a working relationship
with the Biomedical Institute
for Global Health Research and
Technology (BIGHEART) at
NUS on several areas related to

healthcare IT and medical device
development. These primarily
include personal informatics and
intervention through healthcare
applications such as mobile food
logging, diabetes management and
mental health.
Another area under exploration
includes analysis of personal health
data from surveys, smartphones
and wearables, electronic medical
records and other clinical data.
The institute intends on applying

the digital technology from
Holmusk on their interdisciplinary
research to take a step further.
The collaboration would help in
overcoming technical barriers that
prevent good healthcare in the
region.
Digital health and data
analytics experience from Holmusk
would offer a more practical and
sustainable angle to the basic and
translational healthcare research
taking place at BIGHEART in NUS.

Second phase test started for Zika vaccine


NUS, Holmusk tie-up for improving healthcare


Lung cancer drug wins China go-ahead


(^22) WORLD NEWS l BioSpectrum | May 2017 | http://www.biospectrumindia.com

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