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Urologists Better Indicators than Oncologists for Prostate Cancer Investing
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If you're interested in the hot stocks related to prostate cancer drugs, then you'd be well served to look to urologists, not oncologists.
If you’re interested in the hot stocks related to prostate cancer drugs, then you’d be well served to understand a little about urologists, according to a Minyanville article.
— oncologists or urologists — an investor can make some very savvy decisions.
The upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncologists conference gets the lion’s share of attention, but the current American Urology Association meeting sets up ASCO by giving investors a better idea of what drugs are hot. By watching how a drug is positioned in clinical trials and who is working with the drug
Many investors overlook the importance of urology though. Minyanville explains that it is the urologists, not oncologists, who treat and care for prostate cancer patients. This treatment is difference from the vast majority of other cancers.
Unless you understand what the differences mean for your investments in prostate cancer stocks, you’re not making investing decisions with the best information,” according to the article.
It isn’t until the patient’s condition deteriorates and is broadly metastatic that an oncologist takes over. Otherwise, the patient never sees an oncologist and instead only deals with his urologist. So it is the urologist, not the oncologist, who is the biggest customer for, say, Provenge, according to Minyanville. And yet, these companies are listening to oncologists during the trials and few urologists.
Minyanville predicts that Johnson & Johnson will run into some trouble with Zytiga. The drug is approved for post-chemo use, but has been used off label for pre-chemo patients. J&J is looking to get it approved for that use even though data shows that there isn’t really any survival benefit for those patients.
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Even if Johnson & Johnson manages to get the drug approved in the pre-chemo space without a survival benefit, urologists who try it will find it is more trouble than it is worth in asymptomatic patients,” Minyanville wrote.
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According to the article, Medivation is doing the best job by running smaller trials in earlier stages of the disease so that urologists can get some experience with enzalutamide. However, too many companies still get it wrong.
The information contained in this article should not be construed as investment advice or as a solicitation to buy or sell any stock.
Read more:
What You Must Know Before Investing in Prostate Cancer Stocks Part I
What You Must Know Before Investing in Prostate Cancer Stocks Part II
