PhRMA Members Lead the World in Cancer Research Investment

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Research
and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) applauds the leadership of television
news anchors Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams and the
commitment of their respective networks in donating one hour of primetime
programming on Sept. 5 to Stand Up To Cancer.
Like the event's organizers, PhRMA and its member companies laud the
groundbreaking work of visionary researchers whose discoveries have the
potential to save and enhance millions of lives.
America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are the
primary source of R&D funding for new medicines -- both for projects in their
own laboratories as well as for research licensed from other sectors.
Industry-wide spending on research reached a record $58.8 billion in 2007 --
nearly double the National Institutes of Health's entire budget -- and is a
major reason why America leads the world in developing cures for such diseases
as cancer and AIDS.
A record 750 new medicines to treat cancer are in research pipelines at
America's pharmaceutical research companies. These promising therapies are
being tested in human clinical trials right now or await approval by the Food
and Drug Administration.
The medicines represent many cutting-edge approaches, including one
medicine that targets and kills specific cancer cells, and then activates the
patient's immune system to destroy any remaining cancer. An experimental
kidney cancer drug boosts life expectancy by about one-third in this
notoriously difficult to treat disease.
What's more, in commenting on a recent study that found women who survive
five years after breast cancer diagnosis have a good chance of remaining
cancer-free, the American Cancer Society's Len Lichtenfeld said "[t]hanks to
new drugs, women today may fare better" than women in the study, who were
treated between 1985 and 2001, USA Today reported on Aug. 13.
Advances in cancer treatments have boosted survival rates across the
disease spectrum; patients diagnosed with breast cancer, prostate cancer,
colorectal cancer and lung cancer all have improved survival rates since 1975.
According to a Columbia University study, up to 60 percent of the survival
gain is attributable to advances in cancer treatments.
The nation's arsenal of cancer medicines has tripled since the U.S.
declared war on cancer in 1971. On average, a cancer patient now lives one
year longer than in the 1970s. Today, there are 3 million more cancer
survivors than just one decade ago.
Cancer survivors are living longer and enjoy enhanced quality of life. A
new generation of cancer therapies target specific molecules involved in
cancer, such as remedies for chronic myelogenous leukemia. Not only are the
remedies more powerful, sparing normal cells results in less severe side
effects.
"These newest cancer medicines add to substantial progress already made in
the last five years by pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies in
developing new and more effective cancer treatments," said PhRMA President and
CEO Billy Tauzin. "This strong commitment to research is a product of the
determination of the men and women working for America's pharmaceutical
research companies to develop new medicines that will enable patients to live
longer, healthier, and more productive lives."
"I am one of those patients," Tauzin continued. "Diagnosed with cancer a
few years ago, I was given a new treatment that brought me from the brink of
death, back to life."
Among the cancer medicines being developed: 113 for lung cancer, the
leading cause of cancer death in the United States; 90 for breast cancer,
which is expected to strike more than 180,000 American women this year; 65 for
colorectal cancer, the third most common cancer in men and women; and, 88 for
prostate cancer, which this year is expected to kill 28,000 American men.
Additional medicines in development target brain cancer, kidney cancer,
ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and others.
"Researchers are making exciting progress in the search for new cures and
treatments for cancer. But these efforts are wasted if the medicines we
develop aren't accessible to patients who need them," Tauzin said.
Help is available to patients in need through the Partnership for
Prescription Assistance (PPA), a program sponsored by America's pharmaceutical
research companies. To date, the PPA has helped more than 5 million patients
nationwide. Since its launch in April 2005, the PPA bus tour has visited all
50 states and more than 2,000 cities to educate people about patient
assistance programs.
The "Help is Here Express" is staffed by trained specialists able to
quickly help uninsured patients in need access information on more than 475
patient assistance programs, including nearly 200 programs offered by
pharmaceutical companies. When the "Help is Here Express" moves on, patients
can visit PPA's easy-to-use Web site (http://www.pparx.org) or call the toll-
free phone number (1-888-4PPA-NOW).
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
represents the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology
companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to
live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading
the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated
$44.5 billion in 2007 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-
wide research and investment reached a record $58.8 billion in 2007.
PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org
For information on stories of hope and survival, visit:
http://sharingmiracles.com/
For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit:
http://www.innovation.org
For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit:
http://www.pparx.org
For information on the dangers of imported drugs, visit:
http://www.buysafedrugs.info
SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

Diedtra Henderson of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
+1-202-835-3460