- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
I am a BC patient. I belong to a small local investment club for seniors. It is almost like a hobby club. We study stock market and talk about related matters. When I had the first gross hematuria back in November till I had the first TURBT, I was giving a presentation spanning 8 weeks and it helped me to take mind away from worrying about the cancer status. Anyway, when I was diagnosed as bladder cancer in the last November I sold off all my shares as I was not sure what was going to happen to me. Since I joined BCC, I have learned that until recently there had not been any FDA approved medicine for bladder cancer after FDA approved BCG in 1990. Also, I have become aware that the research spending for Bladder Cancer is much less compared to other cancers. I believe it is a mandate for BCC to raise the awareness and also increase the research spending. In capital oriented society, which US, Canada and most European countries are, we rely on drug companies to develop new drugs. Most drugs on clinical trials, which BC patients depend upon are the drugs in development stage, which have been developed by those drug companies. Those drug companies like any other companies are listed in stock markets. Consequently, their most important mandate is to be profitable and gives value to its share holders. I am sure there are socially responsible role to play to save lives and cure the diseases, but it can be done only if the company is profitable. They say Bladder Cancer is the most expensive cancer to treat even if it is 7-8% of all cancers. So, I have not figured out yet, why there had not been much investment by private drug companies in Bladder Cancer. I would like to try to understand the trend and the activities of new drug development from the drug companies’ view point.
Joey
Altor BioScience Corporation. http://www.altorbioscience.com
This company seems to be a private company, so it is not listed in any stock exchange.
They are targeting NMIBC market.
They have a drug called ALT-803, which they think it can improve recurrence and progression when used combination with BCG.
The company is located in Florida, USA. In May 2017, they received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational interleukin-15 (IL-15) agonist complex, ALT-803, in combination with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), for the treatment of patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). The FDA’s Fast Track program is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill unmet medical needs.
Please review the company’s web site to understand the detail of ALT-803 and its clinical test stage.
Joey
BioCanCell is a public traded company in Israel. http://www.biocancell.com
Their corporate presentation can be accessed below. http://www.biocancell.com/about-us-3corporate-presentation/
Below is a summary of key points, which are explained in their corporate presentation.
– Their treatment seems to be a gene therapy based upon the H19 gene, which has shown to control tumor progression. BC-819 is their gene therapy based on the H19 gene.
– This company is targeting NMBIC market, specifically BC-819 is targeting patients whose cancer has recurred after BCG treatment.
– From a business view point, they say about 60,000 NMBIC patients in US, Europe and Japan fail or unresponsive to drug treatment. Those 60,000 patients are BC-819 therapy target market.
– Assuming a yearly cost for treating a patient is $40,000-$50,000 and their market share at 5 year, the company estimate that their revenue can reach $500M and at their peak year $1B.
We all hear that BC is the most expensive cancer to treat but I have not seen concrete government initiatives to improve the treatment for NMIBC patients. So, I am glad to see that private pharmaceutical companies see the treatment of BC as an viable business opportunity to develop new treatment, drugs to not only cure but also improve the quality of life for those NMIBC patients who have to go through repeated invasive treatment such as TURBT and Cystoscopy.
From their stock price view point, the market does not see that the company will grow fast, which indicate that perhaps the market has not seen evidence that either BC-819 will get FDA approval soon or BC-819 will be successful. Their stock market when it IPOed in Tel-AVIV (Isreal) stock market back in before 2014, the stock price went up 700 NIS / share but since 2015 the stock price is hovering around 120 NIS ( I think 1 NIS = .35 CDN). I hope they succeed in BC-819 and help BC patients.
Joey
I might be a bit cynical here and may upset some folks and for that I apologize but I have often wondered at the fact that over the years millions and millions of dollars have been raised and yet there is still no definitive cure for cancer so I keep asking why?
As for bladder cancer, it has been at the bottom of the priority list for decades and thankfully due to the dedication and hard work of people at BCC that is slowly changing.
Big pharma is a filthy rich money making enterprise which makes me wonder if that is why no “cure” for cancer has been found including BC. They want to extend the search as long as possible.
I’m of the belief that the cure for cancer is most likely right under our noses and is cheap and effective but if anyone knows what it is they aren’t saying because of the big dollars and politics involved.
As I mentioned under the Blue Light cysto topic the health care system has it backwards. They focus on treating symptoms and the situation at hand, not prevention.
Another area I’m interested in is immunotherapy. Since I did BCG and thankfully it seems to have worked for me, I feel that working with a patient’s immune system may be the best way to go and to do that we have to invest in more personalized targeted therapies. Some research has been made in this area and it seems promising. Answers to this would hopefully explain why when two people that have the exact same diagnosis and get the same treatment and the treatment works for one and not the other.
Anyhow, those are my thoughts for better or worse.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
