Oncology research has attained priority status and has been flush with pharma research dollars for years. Drug development companies raised $7 billion in 2020 due to the disease’s heavy human toll, and cancer drug sales may nearly double to $320.6 billion by 2026.
It’s no surprise then that three types of cancer — breast, solid tumors and prostate — made the top five list of most studied diseases in 2023, according to the Phesi Global Analysis report, which looked at more than 65,000 trials involving 100 million patients. Breast cancer, which topped the Phesi list for the third year in a row, is one of the two most common cancers globally and accounts for one in every three cancers in American women. A 2023 report from PhRMA found that there are currently 94 drugs in the pipeline for breast cancer. While the death rate for the disease dropped 43% from its peak in 1989 to 2020, there is still demand for more effective treatments for metastatic cancers and more aggressive types of cancer, such as triple negative disease, and those that express the HER3 protein, which have no approved treatments, according to PhRMA.
In addition to breast cancer, research into solid tumors and prostate cancer also made Phesi’s top five, coming in at number two and five respectively.
“The positive news is there has been an increase in trial recruitment across all the top five indications in 2023,” said Dr. Gen Li, Phesi’s president. “What has been especially notable is the increase in solid tumor trials. These are likely to be the foundation of innovative cancer therapies, and investment in this area is a promising sign for patients.”
Solid tumors have gained more attention in recent years, and 677 medicines are in development to treat them, according to PhRMA. An additional 78 medicines are in the works for prostate cancer, the most common in U.S. men.
The other two of the top five most studied disease spots last year went to COVID-19 and stroke research. Not surprisingly, trials for COVID lost steam through the year as the sense of urgency related to the disease dwindled and the public tried to put the pandemic behind it.
“We have seen a marked reduction in investment into COVID therapies in 2023, likely due to there being fewer available patients,” Li said. “The prospective market for COVID therapies is less attractive for investment, and we expect this downward trend to continue.”
However, investments in stroke R&D jumped three spots from fifth in 2022 to second in 2023. The number of stroke-related deaths, particularly in younger people, is expected to double by 2050, which may be fueling interest in this area.
Overall clinical trial activity was also scaled back in the wake of the pandemic. Phase 2 trial attrition was down 1% since 2022, but still hovered at 28%, marking a sizable jump from the 20% attrition rate seen before the pandemic, according to Phesi.
“Ultimately, the clinical development industry is beginning to recover from the pandemic, but we can expect the long-term impact to stretch into 2025,” Li said.
This could slow the pace of new drugs coming to market and may put further pressure on future R&D costs.