HONG KONG, Nov. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia cancer mortality is increasing at an alarming rate. By 2030, cancer cases and mortality rate are expected to increase by about 40 percent and 50 percent respectively in Asia(Note 1). Switzerland-based global healthcare company, Novartis Oncology, takes innovative approach to new drugs development and approvals in Asia, namingly "StAR" (Strategy in Asia Region) to combat this uprising Asian challenge.
StAR focuses research efforts for cancers that are more prevalent in Asia such as gastric cancer, liver cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. Currently global drug development and regulatory registration rely heavily on clinical data and experience from countries such as US, StAR takes the lead to unify stakeholders in Asia to collectively drive world-class medical contributions in oncology and owning the development and availability of medicine to fight against cancer within Asian countries.
StAR unifies Asian medical experts to enhance exchange of clinical experience across the region. Given its highest incidence in Asia, liver cancer is at the top priority of StAR in 2015. "Liver cancer continues to be a major cause of cancer mortality in China. Hong Kong records 1,790 new cases of liver cancer in 2012(Note 2). There is no significant breakthrough on liver cancer treatment in last 5 years. Extra research efforts are much needed on discovering genome sequencing of liver cancer and understand those biomarkers. We need international collaboration like StAR to contribute improved understanding of diagnosis and therapy of liver cancer," said Dr. Stephen Chan, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a leading member of StAR on liver cancer.
Novartis oncology invests on the advancement of precision oncology. The benefit of precision oncology is that clinical trials can be designed for patients who are most likely to respond, yielding stronger signals and shortening the time to market for new therapies.
"Novartis Oncology always aims to expand effective solutions for cancer patients. With the acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline's oncology portfolio, we have one of the largest portfolios of drugs in oncology, hematology and rare diseases, and a broad pipeline of more than 25 new molecular entities in development, targeting key molecular pathways in cancer biology," said John Ketchum, Senior Vice President, Emerging Growth Market, Novartis Oncology.
Disclaimer
This press release contains expressed or implied forward-looking statements, including statements that can be identified by terminology such as "launch," "aim," "want," "hopefully," "will," "excited," "confident," "goal," "seek," "pioneering," "efforts," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These expectations could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section of Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update it in the future.
About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2014, the Group achieved net sales of USD 58.0 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 120,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.
Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at http://twitter.com/novartis (link is external).
Reference
1. Varghese C et al. Cancer Burden and Control in the Western Pacific Region: Challenges and Opportunities Annals of Global Health 2014; 80: 358-369
2. Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health http://www.chp.gov.hk/en/content/9/25/52.html
Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20151105/8521507498
