“A revolution is taking place in the field of cancer,” insists David Sidransky, professor of Otolarynology, Oncology, Pathology, Urology, and director of head and neck cancer research at John Hopkins Medical Institutions, and considered one of the leading experts in the field in the US. “I know that people in the field say that the massive investment in cancer research over the years has hardly reduced the frequency and mortality rate, but this is a misconception. What has changed radically is life with cancer. Today, more cancer patients live for many years with tolerable side effects. We’re on the way to making cancer a chronic but tolerable disease like diabetes or arteriosclerosis.
”The new drugs for cancer, both the biological and chemical ones, are characterized by a fairly successful profile of efficacy versus side effects,” adds Sidransky. “It’s now customary to add them to chemotherapy treatment and see how the patient responds. If the response is good, treatment is continued, resulting in the extension of life by weeks and months.
”The main problem here is that people make the choice of treatment by trial and error, and it’s difficult to know whether any of the methods that have not yet been tried would be preferable to the ones that have. We can expect in future, to see new methods that will enable optimal treatment for each patient. With solutions like this, we might perhaps be able to lower chemotherapy dosages. There have been some cases, in breast cancer patients for example, where the unique treatment was so effective, there was no need for chemotherapy at all.”
Globes: What do the chemotherapy drug manufacturers think about this?
Sidransky:”The patents on most chemotherapy drugs have already expired, so these companies are also looking for the next generation of cancer treatments.”
Several companies in Israel are trying to fight cancer by encouraging the immune system to counteract the growth. To what extent do you believe in this approach?
”There are a number of promising products that use this method. They all work principally by removing a cell from the growth, manipulating it outside the body and then returning it, thereby causing an immune reaction to it inside the body. Such products have reached Phase II clinical trials, and according to the findings so far, this method considerably improves the ability of the body to fight the growth, but not as a single treatment.”
In addition to being a highly respected figure in the cancer field, Professor Sidransky is a close advisor to the cancer drug and treatment industry. He also serves as consultant to the Israeli companies Optimata and GammaCan International Inc. (OTCBB: GCAN), as well as US company Concordia Pharmaceuticals, which recently acquired the rights to a molecule discovered by Tel Aviv University.
“One of GammaCan’s products is interesting, especially with regard to the treatment of skin cancer,” Sidransky explains. “This cancer attacks the body via cells that have pigmentation. GammaCan identified the autoimmune disease, Vitiligo, in which the immune systems attacked the pigmented cells. This is the disease which Michael Jackson claims has caused his skin to go white. If you take blood from someone with the disease, and transfuse it to a skin cancer patient, you will get a person with white marks on his skin but less cancer. There may well be other autoimmune diseases that could also be used to produce vaccinations against cancer.”
Does this in any way help the patient with the autoimmune disease too?
”It doesn’t help him at all. He does it out of altruism.”
As an observer from the outside of Israel’s biotechnology industry, what, in your view, are the chances of developing a real and well-established industry here?
”Israel has some really brilliant people, with a tremendous drive to achieve their goals and establish contacts in the US. So Israel is an excellent place for the development of a biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.”
So what is holding back development?
”This is not an easy field to be in. Most companies in the US fail too. Israel’s big disadvantage is that it does not have access to capital, and sometimes management is too busy raising finance to devote time to taking the company forward. Israel also does not have a large population so it’s difficult to conduct large-scale clinical trials here, but this is OK since Israelis have contacts with all the leading research institutes.”
Is there something in Israeli culture that needs to be improved and overcome so that we can develop a robust biopharmaceutical industry?
”Every industry needs a diverse management. My advice to Israelis is to bring in more international partners to their company boards, Americans and also people from other countries. One problem with Israelis is that they always say, ‘I’m the best.’ They run with their idea, infused with optimism and energy, but they don’t give enough thought to the competitors. When you ask them, they say ‘there’s no one that can really compete with us,’ instead of giving some considered thought to the advantages and disadvantages of the competition they face.”
Do you believe that Israelis should set up companies with the aim of selling them, or is there room here for independent, market-oriented companies with manufacturing operations?
”An exit is a legitimate strategy, but setting up companies for the purpose of making an exit on them is not a good idea. This creates a lot of one-product companies with one-off opportunities. If they fail, a lot of money is wasted and investors lose faith in both the company and industry. In countries where money is in short supply, you have to create more than one opportunity.”
What other things should Israeli managers be aware of?
”Sometimes, companies invest in the wrong clinical trial. Examples of this are trials designed to test whether your product improves the quality of life, while the market is only willing to pay for a product that extends life. Or a product that only measures the effect of your drug without comparing it to a rival product. I always tell companies to structure their trials to show as many things as possible. You need to ask the same questions that the market will ask and have answers to them. Many companies, and not just Israeli ones, ignore the market’s questions. That’s why this industry uses up so much money.
”Another thing that I advise companies to do is to form a real advisory board, rather than just a committee with big names. Having big names on your board is important but what’s more important is that they give you genuine advice and also talk to one another. Sometimes a company changes its business focus but doesn’t follow this by replacing its advisory board. I am not saying that companies should fire the existing advisors but in cases like this, they should recruit new people that are more suitable.”
What are the key trends among investors today?
”Investors today prefer multi-product platforms over one-product companies, and companies that have managed to cooperate with market players; this shows reliable science, good industry contacts and interest on the part of the market. Likewise, investors also look for companies that can present a clearly defined path of milestones, both those that have already been achieved and ones that will be reached in the near future.
”Investors also look for entrepreneurs that have ‘made it’ although these are hard to find. You can find experienced entrepreneurs, but not all of these have a track record of success. I, for example, am also setting up a new venture and have received applications from managers with lengthy and impressive resumes. But when I delve more deeply, I find that the reason that they kept moving on so often was because they closed and ruined one company after the other. Investors are also starting to realize this and often they prefer to take someone with less experience rather than an experienced entrepreneur with a problematic past.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 13, 2006
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