Accelerating the Development of Oncology Medicines

Oncology drugs dominate today’s research focus with over >5500 molecules in development, representing over 35% of the total industry pipeline. Ten new oncology drugs were approved by the FDA in 2019, of which half had an orphan indication and all had been granted priority review. Given the number of molecules in development, there is increasing pressure on development teams to identify successful drug candidates as quickly as possible and accelerate patient access, particularly where no effective therapies are currently available. However, the oncology therapeutic area remains a challenging one to navigate, and success rates are low. The likelihood that a molecule entering Phase I will reach market is around 10%, with the average duration of an oncology clinical trial taking 40% more time than other therapy areas.