Are Biotech Drugs ALWAYS Better?
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The buzz and promise of biotechnology is the likely cause of the buying frenzy that big pharma has been on lately. Word on the street is that biotechnology products are innovative, have a higher return on investment (ROI) and are generally perceived to be “better” than conventional small molecule drugs. I agree that biotechnology products are certainly innovative and the gargantuan ROIs are titillating. But, are biotechnology products always safer and more efficacious than extant small molecule drugs? According to a recent study–maybe not! A study conducted at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in the UK evaluated the effectiveness of 11 different drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They analyzed the results of clinical trials that enrolled at least 100 subjects that were conducted between 1980 and 2007. After analyzing 101 studies (50% of which were conducted by or on behalf of drug companies) they were unable to detect a significant difference in efficacy or safety of small molecule and biotechnology medications that are used to treat RA. The drugs that were analyzed included conventional corticosteroids, synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS) such as hydroxychloroquine, leflunomide, methotrexate and sulfasalazine and a variety of biotechnology products including Orencia® (abatacept, Bristol Myers Squibb) Humira® (adalimumab, Abbott Laboratories) Kineret® (anakinra, Amgen), Enbrel® (etanercept), Remicade® (infliximab, Johnson & Johnson) and Rituxan® (rituximab, Genentech).
As is the case with all medications, there are substantial patient-to-patient variations in efficacy and side effect profiles and one drug may work better for patient than another– whether it is a protein-based biotechnology product or a small molecule drug. Generally speaking, biotechnology drugs focus on novel targets and may have unique mechanisms of action. That said it is not prudent to assume that new biotechnology drugs are inherently better than pre-existing small molecule treatments. The jury should remain out on any drug, biotechnology or otherwise, Phase IV clinical trials and exhaustive post marketing data are collected, analyzed and evaluated.
Until next time….
