Improving Lung Cancer Drug Development

Tony S.K. Mok, BMSc, MD, FRCPC, Professor, Department of Clinical Oncology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital Hong Kong, China, discusses how to improve the strategy of developing treatments for lung cancer.

Mok says in order to move forward, multiple parties such as pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions, and the FDA have to make changes.

As an example, Mok says, the FDA should look into how it registers drugs because the current practice of demanding a companion diagnostic may actually be slowing down the development of the drug.

Mok also suggests making changes to the pharmaceutical industry by having external tribunals advise pharmaceutical companies on which drugs to develop rather than wasting money by trying to develop many drugs.

Clinical Pearls

• Pharmaceutical industries, academic institutions, and the FDA are among those that need to make changes in order to move lung cancer treatment forward
• The FDA should reevaluate how it registers drugs so it does not slow down the development of the drug
• Pharmaceutical companies should have external tribunals to choose which drugs to develop in order to save money