One of the most exciting is Glivec, STI-571, for chronic myelogenous leukemia (see box, page 34).
Cancer drug Gleevec gives chronic myelogenous leukemia patients a 24-month survival rate of 92%.
The protein targeted by Gleevec is always present in a rare cancer called chronic myelogenous leukemia.
They include Abilify for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Reyataz for HIV, Orencia for rheumatoid arthritis and Sprycel for chronic myelogenous leukemia.
This designer approach resulted in one big winner, Novartis' Gleevec for chronic myelogenous leukemia and a rare stomach tumor called GIST.
Gleevec is not a big seller, but it is a breakthrough: About 80% of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia respond to the drug.
Postscript: There was a reason Charles came to the office late in the morning during those years: he generally spent his mornings doing chemotherapy against chronic myelogenous leukemia, diagnosed in 1983.
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Novartis ' (nyse: NVS - news - people ) Gleevec, the first targeted cancer therapy, was approved after mid-stage trials in which it helped patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Gleevec was so good at attacking chronic myelogenous leukemia that it won approval in less than three months, after only two of the three phases of trials that the feds usually require.
Bristol-Myers executives are probably hoping the drug can repeat the super-fast approval managed by Gleevec, a Novartis (nyse: NVS - news - people) drug for chronic myelogenous leukemia that was approved earlier this year in record time.
Antigenics ' (nasdaq: AGEN - news - people ) decision to test the drug in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare disease developed by more than 4, 000 adults per year, is emblematic of a trend in drug development.
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