stocknews : declared in Pfizer Inc.(NYSE:PFE): Pfizer Inc. Suddenly Faces Stiff Breast Cancer Drug Competition From Novartis

So while today's news is certainly great for cancer patients and Novartis, it's perhaps not so good for Pfizer, which now faces stiff competition in an area where it once had none. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) had been just the only player in a very specific breast cancer treatment game, but now Novartis has entered the race with a brand new drug that could be a blockbuster and threaten Pfizer's dominance. Analysts estimate peak annual sales of around $2.5 billion a year, which would be a new blockbuster for Novartis. It also means Pfizer's Ibrance (palbociclib) suddenly has some stiff competition. The drug, also known as ribociclib, will be marketed with the brand name Kisqali.

Novartis Breast Cancer Drug Gets FDA OK (NVS)

Novartis AG (NVS) said its addiction Kisqali (also called ribociclib or LEE011), in combination with another breast Cancer drug letrozole, secured approval from the U.S. Food And Drug Administration (FDA) as a first-line treatment for a form of metastatic Breast cancer. (See also, Puma Plunges on Breast Cancer Drug Update.) (See also, Novartis Lung Cancer Drug Combo Gets CHMP Nod.) The latest approval will pitch it in direct competition with Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) established breast cancer drug, Ibrance (palbociclib), and with Eli Lilly & Co.'s (LLY) abemaciclib. Breast cancer, which is the second-most common type of cancer among American women, is expected to strike more than 250,000 women in 2017.


Novartis has received FDA approval for Kisqali, a first-line treatment for breast cancer originally developed by the British biotech Astex Pharmaceuticals. The oncology company Astex Pharmaceuticals, located in Cambridge's biotech hub, entered a drug discovery alliance with Novartis back in 2005. The approval of Kisqali makes Novartis a direct competitor of Pfizer, whose drug Ibrance (palbociclib) was approved in the US 2015 as the first drug for ER+/HER2- breast cancer that targets CD4/CD6. Now, the biotech will receive a milestone payment for the FDA approval of Kisqali (ribociclib) in the US. For Astex Pharmaceuticals, the success of its collaboration with Novartis is a reason to celebrate.



collected by :Lucy William

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