FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 1999
Contact: Jackie Cottrell, (202) 835-3467
SURVEY FINDS 354 NEW WEAPONS FOR THE WAR ON CANCER
Washington, D.C. - A new survey by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) found that 354 new medicines are now in the pipeline to fight cancer. All of the medicines are either in human clinical trials or awaiting approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The medicines include 63 for breast cancer, which strikes one out of every ten American women; 58 for skin cancer, including melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, whose incidence has grown 4 percent a year since the 1970s; 58 for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., and 46 for colon cancer, the second leading cancer killer of Americans.
Many of the medicines use novel approaches to stop cancer in its tracks. These new approaches include vaccines; drugs that strangle the blood vessels that feed tumors; monoclonal antibodies or "magic bullets" that zero in on tumors; drugs that alter the composition of cancer cells and drugs that scramble the signal that tells cancer cells to grow.
"This large number of potential new medicines should speed up the progress that pharmaceutical research has already made against this deadly enemy," said PhRMA President Alan F. Holmer. "Death rates from cancer are falling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and better and more powerful pharmaceuticals are playing an important role."
Holmer noted that in 1998 alone, pharmaceutical companies had made available two new treatments for breast cancer, one for bladder cancer, and one for thyroid cancer.
Cancer is the second leading killer of Americans, surpassed only by heart disease. In 1999, cancer is expected to claim 560,000 American lives. The annual cost of cancer is estimated at $107 billion, including $37 billion in direct medical costs, $59 billion in mortality costs, and $11 billion in lost productivity.
"Cancer is a formidable enemy, but pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are spending billions of dollars to develop the weapons we need to, some day, win the war against cancer."
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to lead longer, happier, healthier and more productive lives. Investing $24 billion this year in discovering and developing new medicines, PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for cures.
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PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org
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