2024 Promises To Bring Pharmaceutical Breakthroughs On The Oncology Front

On Thursday, Merck & Co Inc MRK topped estimates with its fourth quarter revenue and adjusted earnings fueled by its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, along with HPV prevention vaccine Gardasil. However, Merck still recorded a net quarterly loss due to charges that resulted from a deal to co-develop three after-cancer treatments with a Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo. But, Merck’s patent for Keytruda is expiring in 2028 so it needs more products under its belt. Like its peers, Moderna Inc MRNA and Pfizer Inc PFE, everyone is turning to oncology as their next revenue source. 

A smaller pharmaceutical player, Mainz Biomed N.V. MYNZ, amolecular genetics diagnostic solutions for early cancer detection, also announced impressive results last year regarding its colorectal cancer screening solution ColoAlert® from both its European and U.S. study. Today, Mainz Biomed also announced the opening of the European Oncology Lab.

Revolutionizing treatment for melanoma, and possibly lung cancer.

During 2023, Merck and Moderna issued great midstage trial results from the combined treatment of Keytruda and experimental messenger mRNA cancer vaccine that Merck developed with Moderna against the most deadly form of skin cancer. The midstage trial showed that personalized cancer vaccine and Keytruda immunotherapy drug lower the risk of recurrence or death of melanoma by 49% compared with Keytruda alone. Moreover, results that came at a median point of three years into the study showed that benefits demonstrated a year ago have held up over time. A year earlier, the study had shown a 44% reduction of recurrence or death. Merck and Modernahave already begun a confirmatory late-stage trial for the combination in melanoma. Moreover, Merck and Melanoma have started enrolling patients in a trial to test the combination’s efficiency in combatting lung cancer.

Revolutionizing colorectal cancer screening and increasing the success of treatment.

With its non-invasive and highly sensitive screening for colorectal cancer, Mainz Biomed uses advanced PCR technology to detect molecular-genetic biomarkers (DNA) in stool samples with which it enabled an earlier detection of CRC with greater accuracy. In December, Mainz Biomed confirmed the positive results from its European study with results from the eAArly DETECT U.S. clinical study that reported a sensitivity for colorectal cancer of 97%, along with a specificity of 97%. Additionally, Mainz reported sensitivity of 82% for advanced adenoma which is a known precursor to CRC and by detecting these lesions in a pre-cancerous stage, Mainz made a huge leap towards CRC prevention. With the launch of European Oncology Lab, Mainz is enabling easier access to CRC screening to 8.7 million individuals in Germany covered by private health insurance. This is both a significant advance in disease prevention as it increases chances of early detection as well as a new revenue opportunity for the company. Mainz is also working on developing a pancreatic cancer screening test, PancAlert.

Cancer is the battle pharma never won but by the looks of it, 2024 will be the year in which these companies will make significant efforts to redefine cancer diagnostics and treatment in order to win the world’s biggest health battle.

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