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`http://onforb.es/13u0cGO
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`David DiSalvoContributor
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`I write about science, technology and the cultural ripples of both.
`
`Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
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`PHARMA & HEALTHCARE
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`2/22/2013 @ 1:44PM 6,264 views
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`Targeted Breast Cancer Drug
`Ushers in a New Era of Cancer
`Treatment
`
`Comment Now
`
`The Food and Drug Administration
`(FDA) has approved a new drug for
`treating breast cancer that effectively
`targets tumors, thus minimizing damage
`to other cells in the body.
`
`The drug Kadcyla (kad-SY’-luh) from
`Roche combines the established drug
`Herceptin with a powerful
`chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together.
`According to an AP report, the chemical keeps the drug combination intact
`until it binds to a cancer cell and delivers its anti-tumor cocktail.
`
`Herceptin image credit: Wikipedia
`
`Regular chemotherapy works like an indiscriminate nuclear weapon — it
`destroys a massive amount of healthy cells along with cancerous cells.
`Targeted cancer treatment is more akin to a cruise missile that’s
`programmed to detonate only when it reaches a specified target.
`
`The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer
`patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less
`responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that
`overproduce a protein known as HER-2.
`
`The FDA approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla
`delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Patients treated
`with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease,
`compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two
`other standard drugs.
`
`http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/02/22/targeted-breast-cancer-drug-ushers-in-a-new-era-of-cancer-treatment/print/
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`12/5/2014
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`IMMUNOGEN 2257, pg. 1
`Phigenix v. Immunogen
`IPR2014-00676
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`Page 2 of 3
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`At $9,800 per month, Kadcyla treatment will initially run more than double
`the cost of Herceptin (roughly $4,500 per month). Roche estimates a full
`course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.
`
`The concept of “delivering” anti-cancer drugs to targeted tumors has been in
`development for more than two decades, but the last few years have seen
`exceptional progress. The next phase of targeted treatment will likely involve
`nanoparticles — smaller-than-microscopic transport vehicles that are
`injected into the body and deliver their devastating payload only to a
`cancerous tumor.
`
`Researchers have been experimenting with different materials to create
`nanoparticles since the 1990s. The first promising candidates were lipids
`–naturally occurring molecules that include fats and waxes–but they are
`generally too large to penetrate tumors effectively and are quickly removed
`from the body.
`
`The latest candidates are polymers–synthetic molecules that can be tailored
`to the type of medication they are meant to deliver.
`
`According to Juntao Luo, PhD, a researcher working on polymer
`nanoparticles at the Upstate Medical University of New York: “The general
`concept is that one nanoparticle may not be able to deliver different types of
`medications. You may need to design a nanoparticle for each medication.”
`He adds that nanoparticles may need to be further tailored to individual
`patients, who may respond differently to medications depending on the stage
`and markers of their cancer.
`
`“Polymer nanoparticles carry the medication to the tumor site within 24
`hours. Remnants of the nanoparticles are flushed from the body through the
`kidneys. While they are designed to work most effectively in solid tumors,
`nanoparticles may also help fight some cancers of the blood,” Luo says.
`
`Other nanoparticle treatments are also being explored, including the use of
`metals like gold to serve as the payload vehicle. Pharmaceutical giant
`AstraZeneca recently announced that it has made significant advances in
`using gold as a means to piggyback cancer drugs targeted for tumors. Gold
`flecks are durable enough to carry a large amount of a given drug, and 5,000
`flecks can fit on the width of a human hair.
`
`http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/02/22/targeted-breast-cancer-drug-ushers-in-a-new-era-of-cancer-treatment/print/
`
`12/5/2014
`
`IMMUNOGEN 2257, pg. 2
`Phigenix v. Immunogen
`IPR2014-00676
`
`

`

`Page 3 of 3
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`The big takeaway is that we may be approaching a turning point in cancer
`treatment. With FDA approval of new drugs like Kadcyla, and human trials
`of nanoparticle cancer therapy in the offing, it is possible that humanity is
`finally gaining the upper hand on a disease that once seemed invulnerable.
`
`Related on Forbes…
`
`Alternative Cancer Therapies
`
`This article is available online at: http://onforb.es/13u0cGO
`
`2014 Forbes.com LLC™ All Rights Reserved
`
`http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/02/22/targeted-breast-cancer-drug-ushers-in-a-new-era-of-cancer-treatment/print/
`
`12/5/2014
`
`IMMUNOGEN 2257, pg. 3
`Phigenix v. Immunogen
`IPR2014-00676
`
`