Pharma Strategy and Competitive Intelligence

Business intelligence in a biotechnology world

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Entries Tagged as 'cancer'

Using social media tools for competitive intelligence

October 17th, 2008 · No Comments · FriendFeed, Google Reader, Twitter, biotechnology, cancer, competitive intelligence, pharma strategy

The last few years have seen a rise in all sorts of web 2.0 social media tools, so much so that the choices are becoming rapidly bewildering. They range from old stalwarts such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Ning to new kids on the block such as Twitter and FriendFeed. Image via CrunchBaseTwitter is a microblogging [...]

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Abiraterone and prostate cancer

September 2nd, 2008 · No Comments · Cougar, abiraterone, biotechnology, cancer, competitive intelligence, oncology, pharma, prostate, strategy

One drug that has been tearing up the newsfeed this year is abiraterone, a novel drug in phase II trials for prostate cancer. In February, data was presented at ASCO’s Genito-urinary satellite meeting that looked promising. Dr D.C. Danila and researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering reported a small phase II trial in castration resistant metastatic [...]

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New iPhone apps and Protein Drug Database

August 20th, 2008 · No Comments · cancer, iPhone, molecules, oncology, protein drug database

Image via Wikipedia One of coolest apps I’ve come across in the iTunes store is Molecules. It allows you to select different drugs or molecules from the database and see them in 3 dimensions on the screen. You can even zoom in and see close up detail. For example, the crystal structure of the C-Abl [...]

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Improving survival in Liver Cancer – at what cost?

July 28th, 2008 · No Comments · cancer, competitive intelligence, health, liver cancer, market trends, oncology, pharma, strategy

No effective therapy is available for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), it’s a terminal condition. Over 18,000 people typically die from it in the USA each year. It is much more common in Africa and East Asia where the risk of infection from Hepatitis B and C is much higher, which are associated with increased [...]

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15 minutes of fame in oncology

July 23rd, 2008 · No Comments · Cougar, cancer, company news, competitive intelligence, market intelligence, market trends, oncology, prostate

Wow, my blog on abiraterone in advanced prostate cancer got picked up last night by TopUSAsites for prostate cancer. It looks like the drug is going to be a hot topic for a while, but caution against the hype is advised until we see whether reduction in PSA and tumour shrinkage actually translates to what [...]

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A cancer patient’s inspiring story

July 20th, 2008 · No Comments · NHL, cancer, competitive intelligence, market intelligence, market trends, oncology, radioimmunotherapy, rituxan, targeted therapy

A lady who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and relapsed on chemotherapy, tells her story about how she overcame the odds with a promising new approach called radioimmunotherapy: VIDEO There is always hope around the corner with new treatments coming on the market.

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Cediranib (AZD2171) in Glioblastoma and brain cancer

July 14th, 2008 · No Comments · FGF, Tie-2, brain cancer, cancer, competitive intelligence, glioblastoma, market intelligence, market trends, oncology

The investigational drug AZD2171 (cediranib) from Astra-Zeneca may help shrink tumours and prolong survival of patients with a relatively common, aggressive type of brain cancer. In a phase II study of 31 patients with recurrent glioblastoma, researchers observed that daily treatment with cediranib decreased tumour volume by more than half in 56 percent of patients. [...]

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New treatment option for patients with liver cancer

July 2nd, 2008 · No Comments · FLT3, VEGF inhition, c-Kit, cancer, competitive intelligence, liver cancer, market intelligence, market trends, oncology

Treatment with sunitinib (Sutent) slows tumour growth and reduces the risk of metastasis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, an aggressive cancer of the liver. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a cancer that relies heavily on blood vessels for growth; sunitinib controls the growth of blood vessels and could therefore potentially play an important role for treatment. Image [...]

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Cervical cancer vaccines

June 22nd, 2008 · No Comments · cancer, cervical cancer, company news, competitive intelligence, market intelligence, market trends, skin cancer

The UK has recently approved a second vaccine that protects against HPV called Cervarix from GSK, in addition to Gardasil from Merck. Both vaccines protect against HPV, but Gardasil also protects against gentical warts, which Cervarix does not. Male with genital warts – image courtesy of Wikipedia The wholesale price for the two is exactly [...]

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Are Her2 inhibitors an alternative to chemo in breast cancer?

June 11th, 2008 · 1 Comment · breast cancer, cancer, competitive intelligence, market intelligence, market trends, oncology, pipeline

Image via WikipediaSeveral studies exploring the use of lapatinib (Tykerb, GlaxoSmithKline) in metastatic breast cancer have suggested that it may offer an alternative to chemotherapy in this setting, both as monotherapy, and in combination with other targeted therapies. One study explored the use of lapatinib alone, whereas others investigated combinations with trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech/Roche), with [...]

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