GENESIS Pharma, a leading regional biopharma company operating in the broader region of Southeast Europe, announced their exclusive agreement with Seagen Inc, a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, and commercializes transformative cancer medicines, for the commercialization of an innovative, new cancer medicine in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, to treat patients with HER2 positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Mr. Constantinos Evripides, Managing Director of GENESIS Pharma stated: “It is our great pleasure to announce another new significant business partnership for our company. We are honored that Seagen, a global biotech company dedicated to revolutionizing cancer care, trusted GENESIS Pharma to be their strategic partner in Greece, Cyprus and Malta, acknowledging our long-term expertise and our deep knowledge in the therapeutic area of oncology. We are committed to ensure that all eligible patients with breast cancer in these areas will have direct and uninterrupted access to this innovative therapy”.
About HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer have tumors with high levels of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which promotes the growth of cancer cells. In 2020, more than two million new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed worldwide, including 531,086 in Europe.[1] Between 15 and 20 percent of breast cancer cases are HER2-positive.[2] HER2-positive breast cancer tends to be more aggressive and more likely to recur than HER2-negative breast cancer.[2,3,4] Up to 50 percent of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer patients develop brain metastases over time.[5,6,7]
About GENESIS Pharma
GENESIS Pharma is a regional biopharma company focused on innovative biopharmaceutical products targeting severe and rare diseases. With offices in Athens, Nicosia, Sofia, Bucharest and Zagreb, GENESIS Pharma was among the first pharmaceutical companies in Europe to specialize in the marketing, sales and distribution of biopharmaceutical products. Since its inception, GENESIS Pharma has built a strong portfolio in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs through long standing strategic alliances for the broader region of Southeast Europe with some of the leading multinational pharmaceutical companies committed to cutting edge R&D. For more information, please visit www.genesispharma.com.
Natalia Karahaliou, Communications & Patient Advocacy Manager, GENESIS Pharma, +30 210 8771605, nkarahaliou@genesispharma.com
References
[1] Breast. Globocan 2020. World Health Organization. 2020. https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/20-Breast-fact-sheet.pdf
[2] Loibl S, Gianni L. HER2-positive breast cancer. Lancet. 2017; 389(10087): 2415-29.
[3] Slamon D, Clark G, Wong S, et al. Human breast cancer: correlation of relapse and survival with amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene. Science. 1987; 235(4785): 177-82.
[4] Breast Cancer HER2 Status. American Cancer Society website. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/understanding-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis/breast-cancer-her2-status.html. Accessed March 9, 2020.
[5] Freedman RA, Gelman RS, Anders CK, et al. TBCRC 022: a phase II trial of neratinib and capecitabine for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. J Clin Oncol. 2019;37:1081-1089.
[6] Olson EM, Najita JS, Sohl J, et al. Clinical outcomes and treatment practice patterns of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in the post-trastuzumab era. Breast. 2013;22:525-531.
[7] Bendell JC, Domchek SM, Burstein HJ, et al. Central nervous system metastases in women who receive trastuzumab-based therapy for metastatic breast carcinoma. Cancer. 2003;97:2972-2977.