Immunotherapy inside the cell: the new frontier of cancer therapy

Frost & Sullivan Partner Dorman Followwill comments on one of the disrupting forces that are transforming the healthcare markets.

Immunotherapy inside the cell is one of the disrupting forces that are shaking the healthcare markets. Frost & Sullivan Senior Partner Dorman Followwill strongly believes that this is the new frontier of cancer therapy: "Immunotherapy inside the cell could be the 'Holy Grail' of cancer treatment and this is making us shift the focus from therapy to cure."

Mr Followwill who was recently quoted in an article published by the authoritative and prestigious "The Life Sciences Report" explains why some companies are leading the way in biotech by looking at how penetrate the cell membrane.

"Cancer cells tend not to be red-flagged by the immune system, but autologous (generated within the patient's body) immunotherapy would unmask the cells so that the immune system could then attack," Followwill explains. "The Holy Grail in oncology therapeutics is to find a way to trigger the body's own immune responses against cancer cells wherever they happen to be presenting."

Sorrento Therapeutics is one of the companies Frost & Sullivan has been watching closely as the Transformational Health team have been looking at the monoclonal antibody field for a long time.

Reflecting on a 2013 visit to the company's headquarters in San Diego, he noted Sorrento had a "full pipeline of oncology candidates. It was really impressive to me. And it had achieved that with a mere 18 employees." That kind of "frugal innovation," which is badly needed by big pharma, sets the company up for continued success, he said.