This Market Spotlight report covers the esophageal cancer market, comprising key marketed and pipeline drugs, patent information, a 10-year disease incidence forecast, and licensing and acquisition deals.

Key Takeaways:

• Datamonitor Healthcare estimates that in 2017, there were 488,800 incident cases of esophageal cancer worldwide, and expects that number to increase to 534,700 incident cases by 2026.
• Incidence is higher in males compared to females, and is highest in the Asia region. Photofrin, a two-step therapy that involves the injection of the photoactive drug followed by drug activation using laser therapy, is the only FDA-approved drug for esophageal cancer.
• The majority of the industry-sponsored drugs in active clinical development for esophageal cancer are in Phase II. Therapies in mid-to-late-stage development for esophageal cancer focus on a wide variety of targets. The majority of pipeline drugs in mid-to-late-stage development are administered intravenously, with two drugs being tested in oral formulations.
• The only high-impact upcoming event in the esophageal cancer space is topline Phase III trial results for Opdivo. The overall likelihood of approval of a Phase I solid tumor asset is 5.7%, and the average probability a drug advances from Phase III is 39.4%. Drugs, on average, take 9.5 years from Phase I to approval, compared to 9.2 years in the overall oncology space.
• There have been 11 licensing and asset acquisition deals involving esophageal cancer drugs during 2013–18. The $1,392.8m strategic collaboration between Celgene and BeiGene in 2017 to develop and commercialize BeiGene’s investigational PD-1 inhibitor BGB-A317 for patients with solid tumor cancers was the largest deal.
• The distribution of clinical trials across Phase I–IV indicates that the vast majority of trials for esophageal cancer have been in the early and mid-phases of development, with 91% of trials in Phase I–II, and only 9% in Phase III–IV.
• The US has a substantial lead in the number of esophageal cancer clinical trials globally. The UK leads the major EU markets, while Japan has the top spot in Asia.
• Clinical trial activity in the esophageal cancer space is dominated by completed trials. Sanofi has the highest number of completed clinical trials for esophageal cancer, with 89 trials.
• Sanofi leads industry sponsors with the highest number of clinical trials for esophageal cancer, followed by Roche and BristolMyers Squibb.