Health care professionals celebrate approval of treatment for late-stage cervical cancer
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Key takeaways:
- The analysis revealed strong support for FDA approval of pembrolizumab with chemoradiotherapy for stage III to stage IVA disease.
- Overall, HCP mentions related to new product launches and approvals declined by 35% in January compared with December.
An analysis of global online conversations among health care professionals on social media in January showed celebration of the approval of a new drug for treatment of late-stage cervical cancer.
On Jan. 12, the FDA approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) — an anti-PD-1 therapy — in combination with chemoradiotherapy for treatment of stage III to stage IVA cervical cancer.
HCPs expressed optimism about the impact of the approval, noting the significance of the 18-year gap between this approval and the last time the agency approved a drug in combination with radiotherapy.
A small number of HCPs shared results of the trial and described the treatment as “practice changing,” establishing a new standard of care in cervical cancer.
Creation Healthcare — a leading digital insights consultancy — used CREATION Pinpoint to analyze 1,745 English-language posts on X (formerly Twitter) by 1,255 HCPs to identify key aspects of discussions about FDA approval or launch of pharmaceutical products from Jan. 1 through Jan. 31.
Discussion related to the pembrolizumab approval came amid a 35% overall decline in the number of online mentions of pharmaceutical product launches and drug approvals in January compared with December. In total, 573 fewer HCPs participated in these conversations in January.
The chart above plots the daily number of mentions of product launches, and compares them with previous average daily levels of conversation across October, November and December.
On Jan. 17, the FDA approved the first generic of fidaxomicin, an antibiotic used to treat Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea. Until now, only a brand-name version of fidaxomicin (Dificid; Merck) had been available.
HCPs responded with enthusiasm toward the approval of the generic version, with several seeing the approval as the start of an important year in treatment of infectious diseases — a result of the perceived simplification of medicine access following the approval.
During January, the two most shared stories among HCPs were an FDA press release confirming the approval of pembrolizumab with chemoradiotherapy for stage III to stage IVA cervical cancer, and an FDA data access release about the approval of generic fidaxomicin for Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea.
References:
- Bassam Ghanem, PharmD, MS, BCPS. @ABsteward. Jan. 17, 2024. X (Twitter).
- FDA approves pembrolizumab with chemoradiotherapy for FIGO 2014 Stage III-IVA cervical cancer (press release). Available at: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-approves-pembrolizumab-chemoradiotherapy-figo-2014-stage-iii-iva-cervical-cancer. Published Jan. 12, 2024. Accessed Feb. 9, 2024.
- Oraianthi Fiste, MD, MSc. @OraianthiF. Jan. 14, 2024. X (Twitter).
- Orange Book: Approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations. Available at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/results_product.cfm?Appl_Type=A&Appl_No=208443#54. Accessed Feb. 9, 2024.
- Todd Aguilera, MD PhD (@aguilera_md). Jan. 17, 2024. X (Twitter).
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