LONDON(AP)
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the world's second-largest
pharmaceutical company, said Monday that it expects to introduce
five new cancer treatments through 2010.
The drugs will treat a range of different cancers, including
cancer of the cervix, the company said in a statement. The new
treatments are cervarix, pazopanib, promacta, rezonic and
ofatumumab.
Most recently Glaxo introduced Tykerb, its oral treatment for
breast cancer, in March. The market for cancer treatments is worth
about 20 billion pounds (US$39.5 billion; euro29.5 billion) and is
growing at a rate of about 20 percent a year, the company
estimates.
"Over the next three years, GSK will make a difference to
millions of patients facing cancer," said Glaxo's head of
research and development, Moncef Slaoui.
Glaxo has seen its shares drop recently after the New England
Journal of Medicine published an article saying its diabetes drug
Avandia raised the risk of heart attack by 43 percent.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will require a
heart failure warning on Avandia. The drug already carries a
warning about heart conditions.
Glaxo shares dipped 0.4 percent to 1,321 pence (US$26.11;
euro19.51) on the London Stock Exchange.
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