ICON Survey Highlights Scale of Focus on Precision Therapies in Increasingly Complex Oncology Landscape
Collaboration with industry partners critical to support effective translation of new therapeutic approaches to the clinic
Significant investment is made in cancer research globally each year, with a total investment of approximately US$24·5 billion from 2016 to 20201. The growing understanding of the intricacies underlying various types of cancers has generated many new biological approaches to cancer treatment, such as both mRNA and non-mRNA-based vaccines, oncolytic virus therapy, CAR T-cell or NK cell therapy. Many of these emerging modalities have subsequently entered increasingly complex clinical trials and a crowded, precision-dominated landscape.
The influx of innovative therapies for oncology has not resulted in a singular therapeutic breakthrough. Instead, an increasingly crowded market of oncology therapeutics has emerged, and oncology therapeutic developers are investing in this diversity.
In line with this, 85% of all survey respondents reported having more than one therapeutic approach in development. Additionally, 68% of respondents reported testing at least one combination therapy.
The survey findings indicated that respondents have varied views on the impact of these treatments on patient outcomes at this stage in their development journey. Over a third of respondents, 37%, were optimistic that patients would fare much better in the future than they do now. A similar cohort, 43%, reported that patient outcomes were likely to see modest or minimal improvement. One in five respondents predicted that patient outcomes would not improve. These findings likely reflect that oncologists are using new therapies in a staggered approach, rather than a single new treatment, and time is required to determine the impact they will have.
Whilst site selection and phase 2 or 3 stage development were commonly cited as key R&D challenges, respondents were equally willing to suggest ways to improve drug development: predictive biomarkers (47%), innovative clinical trial designs (42%), and early biomarker identification (41%) were the top three.
Producing successful oncology treatments that use these emerging modalities has presented unique considerations. In its new whitepaper, “De-risking clinical development of precision medicines in oncology”, ICON highlights how oncology therapeutic developers can adapt to this highly competitive market and streamline development through the employment of AI, facilitating collaboration between partners, vendors and trial sites, innovative trial designs, and the integration of predictive biomarkers.
For further information please visit ICONplc.com/precision-medicine-in-oncology.
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1. Global funding for cancer research between 2016 and 2020: a content analysis of public and philanthropic investments. McIntosh, Stuart A et al. The Lancet Oncology, Volume 24, Issue 6, 636 - 645
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