Amgen Colon Cancer Drug OKd
Amgen Inc. won U.S. approval of its cancer drug, Vectibix, marking the biotechnology company’s entry into the $28-billion market for tumor-fighting medicines.
The Food and Drug Administration cleared Vectibix as a treatment for advanced colon cancer, the agency said Wednesday in a statement.
Vectibix, also known as panitumumab, is the first from a lineup of more than half a dozen cancer drugs under development at Thousand Oaks-based Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company. Chief Executive Kevin Sharer has said sales of Vectibix will reach $2 billion a year.
The drug will compete with ImClone Systems Inc.’s Erbitux, a similar antibody-based treatment that has been on the market for more than two years.
“Once launched, physicians will migrate quickly to panitumumab,” said Christopher Raymond, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. in Chicago, in an interview Monday. “This will be more of a marketing battle, and Amgen has arguably one of the best sales forces in the business.”
Raymond estimates that Vectibix sales will reach almost $300 million next year.
Shares of Amgen rose $1.39 to $72.14. ImClone shares fell 69 cents to $28.75.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the U.S.
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 106,680 cases will be diagnosed this year and that about 55,170 people probably will die from it.
Vectibix, like rival Erbitux, is designed to block a chemical signal that causes cancer cells to grow and spread.
Both medications are given as infusions.
Amgen is relying on a sales force that has 15 years of experience selling drugs in the cancer market to take on Erbitux.
The biotechnology company’s biggest drugs include Aranesp, which is used to treat anemia in patients undergoing chemotherapy, and Neulasta, for preventing infections in chemotherapy patients.
Still, Erbitux has the advantage of broader approval and more data showing its efficacy in treating colon cancer, said Michael King, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw in New York.
“In the cancer space, the product label is your strongest marketing tool,” said King in an interview Monday. “The Erbitux label is significantly more powerful than panitumumab.”
Amgen has seven other cancer drugs in development, including AMG 706, which is designed to work like Genentech Inc.’s Avastin by blocking the growth of blood vessels that feed tumors and enable them to grow. Amgen gained Vectibix through its $2.2-billion purchase of Abgenix Inc. last year.
