Tag Archives: Billy Tauzin

PhRMA Report Shows Record Number of Development Drugs to Treat Cancer; 63 Ovarian Cancer & 203 Solid Tumor Drugs Listed

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“Responding to President Obama’s call for ‘a cure for cancer in our time,’ the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) delivered a new report today on medicines in the research pipeline for cancer. The report shows that America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing a record 861 new cancer medicines and vaccines. The medicines listed in the report are being tested in human clinical trials or are awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ : 63 Ovarian Cancer Drugs & 203 Solid Tumor Drugs are listed in the 2009 PhRMA report (pp. 51 – 55)]. …”

“New Report Shows Record Number of Medicines In Development to Treat Leading Causes of Cancer

phrmalogoDenver, CO (April 1, 2009) – Responding to President Obama’s call for ‘a cure for cancer in our time,’ the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) delivered a new report today on medicines in the research pipeline for cancer. The report shows that America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing a record 861 new cancer medicines and vaccines. The medicines listed in the report are being tested in human clinical trials or are awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. [Libby’s H*O*P*E*™ Note: 63 Ovarian Cancer Drugs & 203 Solid Tumor Drugs are listed in the 2009 PhRMA report (pp. 51-55)].

Nationwide, cancer is the second leading cause of death, affecting more than 10 million Americans, according to the National Cancer Institute. This year, more than half a million Americans are expected to die of cancer-more than 1,500 a day. In Colorado, the lifetime risk of cancer is 1 in 2 for males and 2 in 5 for females. The most commonly diagnosed cancer in the state is breast cancer, followed by prostate and lung cancer.

‘We released this report in Denver because of Colorado’s growing role in developing cancer medicines,’ said PhRMA Senior Vice President Ken Johnson, who unveiled the report at the State Capitol Building.

‘Oncology is one of Colorado’s core research competencies, so the President’s call to cure cancer resonates powerfully in our state,’ said Colorado Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien. ‘We are proud that the cancer medicines now in the research pipeline in Colorado are contributing substantially to the incredible progress made in the last five years by biopharmaceutical companies in developing new and more effective cancer treatments. The nation must continue its strong commitment to the cutting-edge pharmaceutical research that will enable cancer patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives.’

billytauzin

Billy Tauzin, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). PhRMA's mission is to conduct effective advocacy for public policies that encourage discovery of important new medicines for patients by pharmaceutical & biotechnology research companies.

‘I am one of those patients who was diagnosed with cancer and was given a new treatment that brought me from the brink of death back to life,’ says PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. ‘The men and women working for America’s pharmaceutical research companies are committed to developing new cancer medicines that, one day, could eradicate cancer all together.’

Cancer medicines being developed include 122 for lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States; 107 for breast cancer, which is expected to strike more than 180,000 American women this year; 70 for colorectal cancer, which is the third most common cancer in both men and women; and 103 for prostate cancer, which this year is expected to kill 28,000 American men. Additional medicines target brain cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, and others.

The medicines represent many cutting-edge approaches, including a drug that delivers a synthetic version of a substance derived from scorpions directly to brain tumor cells; a number of cancer vaccines; medicines that target and kill specific cancer cells; and treatments that activate the patient’s general immune system to destroy cancer.

‘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,’ said Johnson.

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 5.7 million patients nationwide, including more than 72,000 people in Colorado. Since its launch in April 2005, the PPA bus tour has visited all 50 states and more than 2,500 cities to educate people about patient assistance programs.

The “Help is Here Express” is staffed by trained specialists able to quickly help uninsured and financially struggling patients 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 (www.pparx.org) or call the toll-free phone number (1-888-4PPA-NOW).

Click here to read Medicines in Development for Cancer 2009. [Adobe Reader PDF Doc.]

Read the backgrounder fact sheet here.

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Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America

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 $50.3 billion in 2008 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide research and investment reached a record $65.2 billion in 2008.

PhRMA Internet Address: www.phrma.org

For information on stories of hope and survival, visit: http://sharingmiracles.com/

PhRMA en Español: www.nuestraphrma.org

For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit: www.innovation.org

For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit: www.pparx.org

For information on the danger of imported drugs, visit: www.buysafedrugs.info”

Source:  New Report Shows Record Number of Medicines In Development to Treat Leading Causes of Cancer, Press Release, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, April 1, 2009.

The “Fight Back Express” – A Mobile Petition To Fight Cancer

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“The Fight Back Express is rolling across the nation, carrying the mobile message that Americans have the power to fight cancer in this country with their voices. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is sponsoring the 6-month bus tour to highlight the crucial role elected officials play in supporting laws and policies that help people fight cancer. The ACS CAN Fight Back Express kicked off in Ohio in early May and will travel across the 48 continental United States through Election Day, Nov. 4 [2008].”

“The Fight Back Express is rolling across the nation, carrying the mobile message that Americans have the power to fight cancer in this country with their voices. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is sponsoring the 6-month bus tour to highlight the crucial role elected officials play in supporting laws and policies that help people fight cancer. The ACS CAN Fight Back Express kicked off in Ohio in early May and will travel across the 48 continental United States through Election Day, Nov. 4 [2008].

‘If one person can fight cancer, then a nation can rise up and defeat it,’ said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN, the sister advocacy organization of the American Cancer Society. ‘As an essential partner in the fight against cancer, government has a critical role to play in enacting laws and policies that help people battle a disease that will kill an estimated 565,650 people in America this year.’ Scientific discovery alone will not defeat cancer. The federal government is by far the largest source of cancer research funding, but years of budget freezes and cuts are impeding progress.

Through the bus tour, ACS CAN is working to make cancer a higher national priority by educating the public, lawmakers, candidates and the media about the importance of government’s role in defeating cancer. Cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and their families gather at each stop to share their experience with the disease and to voice the need to make dramatic changes in this country’s approach to cancer. ‘We can make this disease history,’ said Bob Willman, an ACS CAN State Lead Ambassador Volunteer from Springfield, Ohio. ‘We know what we need to do to win the war on cancer. Now we need our elected officials to join us and support laws and policies that will help defeat this disease.’

The ACS CAN Fight Back Express is a mobile action center. At each bus stop visitors have the chance to share their story with their Members of Congress through the Picture A Cure program and sign a petition to support access to quality health care for all Americans. The ACS CAN Fight Back Express bus tour comes on the heels of a major public education campaign by ACS CAN and the American Cancer Society, raising awareness about the critical need for access to quality healthcare for all Americans. There has been tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, as evidenced by the reduction in death rates from cancer every year since 1991. But continued success is at risk if Americans don’t have access to cancer prevention, early detection and treatment. More than 47 million people in America are uninsured and countless millions more are underinsured, making them more likely to be diagnosed at later stages when cancers are more deadly. Too often, lifesaving cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment programs are not available to patients who need care the most.

ACS CAN supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions for a number of cancer-related issues including:

  • Prevention and Early Detection: Regular screenings can catch cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages, but a federal program that offers low-income and uninsured women screenings for breast and cervical cancer only covers 1 in 5 eligible women. A similar program for colon cancer is now pending before Congress and needs to be created immediately as both of these programs have the potential to save lives.
  • Increased Funding for Cancer Research: Medical research could lead to the discovery of prevention and early detection tools for the most deadly cancers such as pancreatic and ovarian cancer, but federal research funding has been frozen or cut in recent years, threatening progress.
  • Tobacco Control: Tobacco is responsible for approximately one-third of all cancer deaths, but the federal government still lacks the ability to regulate tobacco products. At the state and local level, strong smoke-free policies could significantly reduce the number of tobacco-related cancer cases by protecting workers and patrons from the hazards of secondhand smoke.

The Fight Back Express is made possible by the contributions of millions of American Cancer Society and ACS CAN donors across the country whose lives have been touched by cancer. Additionally, the bus tour is made possible by a generous contribution from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). “Incredible progress has been made in recent years in the battle against cancer,” said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. ‘America’s pharmaceutical research companies work hard every day to develop new medicines that will enable cancer patients to live longer, healthier, more productive lives. However, scientific research isbut one piece of the puzzle; improved prevention, early detection and access to quality healthcare are equally critical. Together, we can win this fight.’

To find out more about the ACS CAN Fight Back Express and how to make cancer a national priority log on to www.acscan.org. ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.acscan.org.”

Quoted Source: National Bus Tour Rolls Across the Nation Urging Americans to Join the Fight to Defeat Cancer – American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Effort Highlighting the Role of Elected Officials in the Fight Against Cancer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Press Release, undated.

Comment: For additional information regarding the Fight Back Express including: (i) the purchase of miles to keep the bus on the road; (ii) the upcoming Fight Back Express stop locations; and (iii) stories from the roadtrip, please click here. A YouTube video regarding the ACS CAN Fight Back Express bus tour is provided below.

ACS CAN Fight Back Express Bus Tour