The group had to cope with a number of setbacks in research in recent years.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt After positive data from a larger study with men suffering from prostate cancer, the Bayer Group has significantly increased sales expectations for its cancer drug Nubeqa. The active ingredient has a peak sales potential of more than three billion euros per year, as announced by the Leverkusen chemical and pharmaceutical giant on Friday.
Nubeqa could thus develop into one of Bayer’s new bestsellers. Bayer had previously expected long-term sales of more than EUR 1 billion for the product. In response, Bayer stock rose by up to three percent on Friday morning.
Such news is very important for the Leverkusen group in order to underpin the potential of its pharmaceutical division. Many analysts have been expecting a major drop in sales for the second largest division of the Bayer Group when the patents for the eye drug Eylea and the anticoagulant Xarelto expire in the coming years. The two bestsellers currently account for around half of Bayer’s pharmaceutical sales of around EUR 18 billion.
Bayer has also had to cope with a number of setbacks in research in recent years. Most recently, the company halted work on Eliapixant, a potential drug for chronic cough and neuropathic pain that was in mid-stage clinical testing.
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Nubeqa, on the other hand, has already been one of Bayer’s research successes. The drug has been approved for the treatment of hormone-sensitive prostate tumors that have not yet metastasized for two years and achieved sales of around 220 million euros last year.
>> Read here: Cancer drugs, gene therapy, biotech alliances: Bayer wants to become stronger again in the pharmaceutical business
According to Stefan Oelrich, head of pharmaceuticals at Bayer, the number of patients eligible for Nubeqa will triple as a result of the new study results. With an estimated 1.4 million new cases worldwide, prostate cancer remains a significant medical problem and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in men. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, around 15,000 men died of prostate cancer in Germany in 2019.
In the study, Bayer was able to show that the Nubeqa active ingredient darolutamide also offers significant advantages in the treatment of prostate cancer that has already metastasized when used in combination with standard therapy. Bayer presented the data on Friday at a specialist conference. Nubeqa was then able to reduce the risk of death in these patients by 32.5 percent and thus significantly extend the overall survival of the patients.
Bayer is testing Nubeqa for other uses
Matthew Smith, director at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and leader of the study, sees the study results as an important step forward. They showed “that the overall survival of patients could be significantly prolonged by the addition of darolutamide. Darolutamide also improved time to prostate cancer progression and other key secondary endpoints,” he said in a statement from Bayer.
The active substance, which Bayer developed in cooperation with the Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion, prevents the growth-promoting effect of testosterone by blocking the corresponding receptors in the tumor cells. Apparently, it is also characterized by the fact that it produces hardly any additional side effects. According to Bayer, in the study with 1,300 patients, the rate of serious adverse effects in the group treated with Nubeqa was similar to that in the comparison group of the same size.
Bayer is also testing Nubeqa in a number of other uses in prostate cancer, including as a monotherapy and as a prophylactic in patients who have had successful surgery but are at increased risk of recurrence.
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