The return on R&D investment for leading biopharmaceutical manufacturers fell to a nine-year low while the U.S. FDA approved a record-breaking amount of novel medicines during 2018.
Emboldened by 2017’s back-to-back FDA approvals of the first drugs that use genetically engineered patient immune cells – Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) to treat leukemia and Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) to combat large-B-cell lymphomas – immunotherapy researchers are continuing to revolutionizing cancer treatment. But uneven patient response rates and the side effects often associated with immunotherapies are putting high priority on accurately identifying which patients would benefit most from particular treatment options.
