Dual-novel Combination Oncology Drugs

The tried-and-true oncology R&D model is running out of steam. Despite much talk about biomarkers and personalized medicine, most development follows the same old paradigm: spend billions to test a single molecule in as many tumor types as possible and see where it sticks. The results of this scattershot approach aren’t terribly surprising: Oncology has one of the highest Phase III failure rates of any major therapeutic category, and the majority of recent approvals have offered modest improvements at best.

A few leading players in the oncology market are trying a new approach in an effort to drive step-change advancements. But unlike developers of traditional combination drugs, they are building their products not from already-approved drugs, but from novel compounds that have not been, and in some cases will never be, marketed as monotherapies.