The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a major approval on Thursday, bringing new hope to lung cancer patients: approved$Amgen (AMGN.US)$Imdelltra (generic name tarlatamab) is a second-line treatment for advanced small cell lung cancer (SCLC). This decision means that Imdelltra will be the new option for patients as their cancer continues to progress after receiving other treatments (usually chemotherapy).
According to information, Imdelltra's approval was based on its performance in clinical trials, which showed that the drug can slow tumor growth and significantly prolong the survival of patients with small cell lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive, rapidly growing cancer that is usually advanced at the time of diagnosis.
According to Amgen, more than 2.2 million people worldwide are diagnosed with lung cancer every year, of which small cell lung cancer accounts for about 15%, or about 330,000 cases. According to a study in the Journal of Cancer, up to 85% of patients with small cell lung cancer are in advanced stages of the disease at the time of diagnosis, and there are currently about 35,000 small cell lung cancer patients in the US.
The prognosis for small cell lung cancer is generally poor. According to data from the American Cancer Association, only 3% of patients with small cell lung cancer that has spread can live for 5 years. The five-year survival rate for all small cell lung cancer patients is only 7%.
However, Imdelltra's approval gave patients a glimmer of hope. For example, Lynne Bell (Lynne Bell), a small cell lung cancer patient from Atlanta, Georgia, began taking Imdelltra through clinical trials after other treatments failed, and saw significant tumor shrinkage and pain loss.
Another survivor, Maida Mangiameli (Maida Mangiameli), has been in remission for five years since she was diagnosed with advanced small cell lung cancer in 2018. She welcomed Imdelltra's approval as an important step in the fight against this devastating disease.
Dr. Jay Bradner, Amgen's chief scientific officer, emphasized the need for a new treatment, saying, “This is just one of the most terrible cancers, so we need a new solution.”
Imdelltra's approval not only provided patients with new treatment options, but also brought advances in the field of treatment of small cell lung cancer. As this new treatment becomes available, patients and healthcare professionals expect it to provide more support in the fight against this deadly disease.
It is worth mentioning that after Amgen's CEO made optimistic remarks about its potential diet pills at the beginning of this month, the market was extremely optimistic about the company's prospects in the lucrative diet pills market. As a result, US stock investors and Wall Street asset management institutions that fully focused on the diet pill circuit, missed the “Nolie” stock price boom, trying to seize a new historic investment opportunity on the diet drug circuit with the “new favorite of Wall Street” Anjin.
Although it may take years for a novel drug to be marketed, institutional investors looking for new ways to catalyze hype believe that MariTide, a new anti-obesity product currently being developed by Amgen, can potentially compete with current best-selling weight loss products, such as simeglutide, which has the title of “magic drug for weight loss” launched by Novo Nordisk.
Matt Phipps, an analyst at William Blair, a well-known investment agency, said, “The market is clearly keen for pharmaceutical companies to continue to launch more weight loss products and try to launch unique products, so even if you launch drugs three to four years later than the leaders' drugs, you can gain a significant market share.” After Amgen's CEO made optimistic remarks, he upgraded the stock's rating to “outperform the market.”
Analyst Salim Syed from Mizuho said, “This fanaticism is often short-term.” The analyst maintained a “neutral” rating for Amgen. “This is the third time we've seen this situation, and every time, stock prices end up cooling down.”
Since detailed data from Amgen's mid-term trial study of potential weight loss pills will not be released until the end of this year, Mizuho analyst Syed believes there are no positive factors that can push the stock higher even further after the heat has passed.
Syed added: “Amgen is responsible for proving that they have a compound and that people are willing to give this compound such a high value.” “If these figures don't hold true, the stock could drop significantly.”
However, most Wall Street analysts are strongly bullish on Amgen's stock price trend. More than half of the analysts followed by the agency recommended buying the stock. Phipps from William Blair believes that although Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk currently dominate and potential competitors are competing to develop more novel treatments, Amgen's MariTide still has multiple best-selling potential.
“The market wants to see real meaningful upside from such a product, which can bring significant long-term growth trends to the company, as well as room for revenue and profit growth,” Phipps said.