There is very strong evidence for the advantages of using repurposed drugs as neoadjuvant treatment of cancer. Artemisinin, nelfinavir, fenofibrate, AINEs, proton pump inhibitors are only a few of a long list of repurposed drugs that may help in the targeting of cancer. In spite of this strong evidence, none (with the exception of thalidomide) has entered clinical practice. Is this only because of commercial reasons (no patents available) or are there any other grounds for this procrastination?
Hi Pan
Don`t you think that may be we can do something to have authorities addressing the issue?
For example, when you come to "discover" that dihydroartesunate is as good as many alkylating agents in cancer, but it shows none of its adverse effects, and nobody uses it for cancer treatment, don't you feel like something is not working in the world of science?
One caveat that has been storming my brain lately is that a textbook on cancer targeted repurposed drugs should be written. May be we can get, at least, some people to consider the issue.
Best regards
Tomas
Hi Tomas. Good question. There are multiple factors, including the lack of financial incentives. One is that most trials of repurposed drugs are small academic trials. When positive results are reported there is no experience in place to take the information to the next level. Drug licensing, for example, does not get addressed so the new uses for the old drugs are not listed on the label. There is no organisation in place to push for the new data to be incorporated into standard practice guidelines etc. I address some of these issues in the attached article.
Research Drug repurposing and oncology – pitfalls and potentials
Hi Pan
Don`t you think that may be we can do something to have authorities addressing the issue?
For example, when you come to "discover" that dihydroartesunate is as good as many alkylating agents in cancer, but it shows none of its adverse effects, and nobody uses it for cancer treatment, don't you feel like something is not working in the world of science?
One caveat that has been storming my brain lately is that a textbook on cancer targeted repurposed drugs should be written. May be we can get, at least, some people to consider the issue.
Best regards
Tomas
Hi Tomas. We have been working on the regulatory side of this issue as well as the scientific. Recently we gained orphan drug designation for the beta blocker propranolol as a potential treatment for angiosarcoma. We are investigating ways to ensure that obstacles to successful repurposing are removed. However, the more people who raise awareness of this issues the better!
Tomas sir, you have asked right question at right time .. i find it useful .. When i surfed in internet i am shocked to know the real truth of failure of repuposing drug ,though it has profound effect in cancer and nearly 70 drug are shown to be effective ,it is not prescribed by oncologist and drug company ..
REASON :
1) The drugs are so cheap but the cost of approval is so high.
2) The current cost of bringing a new cancer drug to market is estimated at $2–4.5billion, including all the failures along the way. “We now believe that 90% of the cost of developing medicines isn’t the hightech lab work, it is the clinical trials,”
3) This is a key problem facing those involved in drug repurposing. “A drug company that invests money in supporting a clinical trial is not guaranteed to recoup that money if the trial is successful, because some other manufacturer could come in and sell the same drug at a lower price,”
4) Then, if the trial is successful, they will need to find a way of funding the application for a new license. The costs of licensing a drug in Europe are between €83,700 and €278,800 – plus an annual cost of €100,000 to maintain market authorisation.
5) Extremely high costs involved in running clinical trials make this unlikely, Blackburn says: “A phase II trial will typically cost £20–30 million [€23– 35mn], and a phase III trial, £50– 70 million [€58–81mn].
So commercialisation of Drugs is like Going to Harvard, which only rich can do, irrespective of their potentialities.
- Badges
- Science topic