Wyeth's Torisel granted priority review

The first mTor inhibitor has been granted priority review. Approval is requested for RCC, which puts it in direct competition with Nexavar and Sutent. As Torisel is fast-tracked, performance is likely impressive and perhaps superior. I wonder if Onyx/Bayer or Pfizer is already talking to Wyeth about conducting combination trials.

Pfizer's pipeline

forbes gives the highlights of Pfizer's pipeline, which includes 3 drugs targeting kinases:

Axitinib - Sutent successor, firstly for RCC, with picomolar potency vs.VEGFR 1, 2 & 3 and nanomolar potency against PDGFR-beta and KIT, which, according to Forbes is "moving soon into final stage trials for thyroid breast and lung cancer."

CP-751871 - IGFR-1 Ab for prostate and lung cancer, now in P2.

CP-690550: JAK3 inhibitor for RA

I'll dig into Pfizer's news to see what else they're touting.....

Nexavar vs. Sutent

Onyx just posted 3Q results. Nexavar sales rose 41% to $45M for the quarter versus $63M and 75% growth by Sutent over the same period. (Pfizer also notes 7,500 Sutent patients vs. 6,000 last quarter.)

It's probably too early to declare a winner (the winner may be determined by who does the best, quickest job expanding the label), but Sutent (Pfizer) almost doubled Onyx/Bayer's new revenue for the quarter.

I suspect that Onyx stock may take a hit based on the comparison to Sutent, but these figures actually put Onyx on track to surpass '06 Nexavar sales. A good 4th quarter with 33% growth to $59M would put Nexavar '06 sales in excess of $160M. I'm pretty sure that consensus estimates were around $140M.

Sutent results really look strong, especially considering that Pfizer has a not-yet-mature oncology sales force.