Therapeutics
The rise of
IMMUNOTHERAPIES strategies to accelerate their advance into clinical trials
The striking rise of immunotherapies in the past decade has had a transformative effect on the prospects for the treatment of patients with cancer. Also referred to as biologic therapies, immunotherapies are a new class of drug that harnesses the potential of the body’s immune system to target and destroy tumours. With hundreds of antibody-based candidates in the development pipeline, the field represents one of the most promising strategies for cancer treatment. While the promise of biologics is great, so too are the challenges researchers have come up against. The traditional phased approach of drug development considers features of a candidate, such as its pharmacokinetics, sequentially. However, this approach is neither optimal nor sufficiently sophisticated to support the development of immunotherapies, which involves a vast array of combinations of targets, drugs and biomarkers. Researchers have adapted to this challenge by developing novel assays and approaches to accelerate their understanding of the performance of immunotherapies.
C
ancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with its prevalence expected to increase by 70% in the next two decades.
However, a promising, relatively new, field of can- cer therapy is emerging1. The striking rise of immunotherapies in the past decade has had a transformative effect on the prospects for the treat- ment of cancer patients with a large number of immunotherapy candidates proceeding to clinical trials, and some already clinically validated. With an estimated market potential of $34 billion by
Drug Discovery World Summer 2017
20242, immuno-oncology (I-O) represents a rapid- ly-growing field at the forefront of cancer therapy, attracting much investment from biopharmaceuti- cal companies across the globe.
Immunotherapies: a brief history Although not until the past decade have we seen significant breakthroughs being made in the field, as far back as the 1890s scientists hypothesised that the stimulation of the immune system could be utilised as a cancer therapy3,4. William B. Coley
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By Edward Cribb
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