Sinphar Group (杏輝醫藥集團) on Friday held a biomedical forum in Taipei about pancreatic cancer treatment and its new drug development efforts, saying Folfirinox is still superior in first-line chemotherapy treatment for late-stage pancreatic cancer compared with other drugs.
Among first-line treatments for pancreatic cancer, clinical trials have shown that Folfirinox has produced an overall survival period of 11.1 months among patients, exceeding the 6.8 months of the standard gemcitabine chemotherapy, the company said.
About 340,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and the number has continued to increase every year, according to American Society of Clinical Oncology data.
Pancreatic cancer is the eighth-leading cause of death from cancer in Taiwan, with 1,948 people dying from pancreatic cancer in 2015, Health Promotion Administration data showed.
While Folfirinox is designed for patients who require continued treatment, but have exhausted other first-line options, the regimen has a limited market in Taiwan as it is not covered by the National Health Insurance program and therefore is less prescribed by physicians, Sinphar said.
Despite rising use in Europe and North America as well as a track record of longer survival periods, there are few pancreatic cancer patients in Taiwan who have elected to pay out of pocket to undergo treatment with Folfirinox, SynCore Biotechnology Co (杏國新藥) general manager Su Muh-hwan (蘇慕寰) said on the sidelines of the forum.
SynCore, the group’s new drug development subsidiary, is developing a second-line treatment for pancreatic cancer, SB05 PC, which has begun its global phase III study, Su said.
SynCore’s board last month approved plans to provide NT$20 million (US$687,262) toward sponsoring Folfirinox treatments overseen by the National Health Research Institutes, as well as covering the cost of the regimen for patients under the care of select hospitals working with the company.
Another reason Folfirinox has not been widely prescribed in Taiwan is due to differences between Taiwanese doctors and their counterparts in Europe and North America, Su said.
European and North American physicians are more likely to prescribe the drug because it leads to a longer survival period for patients, while Taiwanese doctors are apprehensive about the lack of a readily available second-line treatment if the disease continues to progress, he said.
Despite its superior survival results, that Folfirinox is comprised of four chemotherapy drugs means that patients are more heavily affected by its higher toxicity, Su said, adding that the drug is more widely prescribed to younger European and North American patients who generally are in better physical condition.
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