Event Information

Time: November 17, 2016 (Thursday)

Place: TRPMA Conference Room

On the World Pancreatic Cancer Day, TRPMA invited Ms Grace Yeh, Co-founder and CEO of PharmaEngine, to give a talk on the development of ONIVYDE® and how to use NRDO and Networked Pharma to successfully develop world-class cancer drugs.

Pancreatic cancer is the world’s 12th most common cancer and the world’s 4th most deadly cancer. ONIVYDE® is now included in the “ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines” and the “National Comprehensive Cancer Network” as one of the recommended treatments.

Applying the model of “no research development only” and “networked pharma (out-sourced)”, PharmaEngine obtained the Hermes Biosciences’s authorisation of ONIVYDE® in Asia and Europe. PharmaEngine collaborated with various CROs, CMOs and hospitals to continue the product development. In 2012, PharmaEngine authorized Merrimac in the US to jointly push the product globally. Since then, the product has obtained drug licenses in Taiwan, the US and the EU. In 2016, the annual sales of ONIVYDE® reached USD 36m.

To wrap up the talk, Ms Yeh shared the story of the first patient in Taiwan who used ONIVYDE® to treat pancreatic cancer. The new drug was the patient’s last hope. Ms Yeh urged drug developers to always remember their mission and their intention of new drug R&D which is to save life and bring benefits to human beings.