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Danish biotech company reveals promising cancer treatment trial results

Ross McPherson
October 22nd, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

It is expected to take companies 12 years to bring experimental treatments to US markets (photo: Pixabay)

A new cancer treatment developed by Genmab has shown positive results in a phase 3 Cassiopeia study.

The treatment combines Darzalex with Velcade and could potentially be offered as a first-line treatment for leukemia and multiple melanoma.

“There is some very promising data that the treatment could reach a group of patients Genmab is yet to access,” Søren Løntoft Hansen, a senior analyst at Sydbank, told Børsen.

“If Genmab is approved for this study and the ongoing Maia study, the biotech company can help the full spectrum of newly diagnosed patients with bone marrow cancer. ”

Further proof study
Genmab will enter into a dialogue with the FDA and other authorities to seek approval based on the study, added Hansen, adding that it may be difficult to receive approval without further study.

“We are also looking forward to data from the second part of the study, which will provide additional data on the effect of Daratumumab monotherapy as a treatment,” said Jan van de Winkel, the managing director of Genmab, in the announcement.

Markets still unconvinced
Over the past year, Genmab’s shares have fallen 30 percent.

“I think the stock will outperform the general stock market,” ventured Hansen.

Oncology research is notoriously stagnant. Most new treatments only offer a marginal increase in the quality of life of patients – often for hefty price tags inflated by the bureaucratic approval process.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”