A new cancer drug has given hope to both patients and investors

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 the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new cancer drug, Kymriah, developed by the Novartis pharmaceutical company based on the CAR-T cell therapy technology. This is important not only in terms of preserving people's lives, but also in terms of the income of the company and its shareholders. 

 CAR-T therapy can make a real revolution in the fight against cancer, says CNBC. Unlike the old, ineffective method of treating cancer (a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation), this development is based on immunotherapy, when the patient's own immune cells are used to fight tumors 

 Cancer control technologies have been developing steadily in recent years, and the death rate from this disease in the United States has dropped by 13% between 2004 and 2013. Nevertheless, only last year nearly 600 thousand Americans died of cancer, and the number of cases was about 1.7 million people, so the reports of the new medicine became a ray of hope for many cancer patients and their relatives. 

 For investors investing in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, the latest news has also become an occasion for optimism. 

 Against the backdrop of reports on the approval of CAR-T, the value of stocks of biotech companies working on similar drugs has grown instantly. Thus, the shares of Juno Therapeutics rose in price by 3.4%, Nektar Therapeutics - by 8%, and bluebird bio prices went up by 10%. 

 Exchange investment funds investing in biotechnology are also looking to the future with confidence. The value of iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology shares after the publication of the latest news grew by 2% and reached a record value since January 2016. And the shares of the Oppenheimer's Global Opportunities fund, whose largest asset are the shares of Nektar Therapeutics, have grown by 26% this year. 

 Companies working on preparations for immunotherapy, attract the attention of not only investors, but also leaders of the pharmaceutical industry. So, biotech company Kite Pharma only planned to present its own drug against lymphoma based on CAR-T technology in November this year, but this week it was bought by the giant of the pharmaceutical industry Gilead Sciences for $ 11.9 billion. 

 And this is only the beginning of consolidation in the market, the publication is sure. Large pharmaceutical companies annually lose billions of dollars on generics (analogues of branded medicines) and often can not or do not want to invest in the development of new drugs. In this regard, the purchase of small companies working on new technologies for market leaders becomes an excellent way of introducing innovations without unnecessary hassle. 

 Financial opportunities for this they have. American pharmaceutical companies have the highest share of unrepaired income compared to other industries, reaching 15%. In total, in the foreign accounts of 500 largest pharmaceutical companies is about $ 541 billion, so that the repatriation of at least some of these funds will allow them to conduct more than one merger and acquisition. 

 While immunotherapy is in its infancy and is not mass, but the potential of this technology makes investors invest billions in its development. Now these drugs cost cosmic money (for example, the price of the same Kymriah is $ 475 thousand per course) and due to innovativeness they are not subject to government measures to reduce the price of medicines. It remains only to hope that the growth of competition in the market and the emergence of new immunopreparations will make them more accessible to ordinary people. 

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