LONDON – GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the world's second-largest pharmaceutical company, said Monday that it expects to introduce five new cancer treatments through 2010.
The drugs will treat a range of different cancers, including cancer of the cervix, the company said in a statement. The new treatments are cervarix, pazopanib, promacta, rezonic and ofatumumab.
Most recently Glaxo introduced Tykerb, its oral treatment for breast cancer, in March. The market for cancer treatments is worth about 20 billion pounds (US$39.5 billion; euro29.5 billion) and is growing at a rate of about 20 percent a year, the company estimates.
"Over the next three years, GSK will make a difference to millions of patients facing cancer," said Glaxo's head of research and development, Moncef Slaoui.
Glaxo has seen its shares drop recently after the New England Journal of Medicine published an article saying its diabetes drug Avandia raised the risk of heart attack by 43 percent.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will require a heart failure warning on Avandia. The drug already carries a warning about heart conditions.
Glaxo shares dipped 0.4 percent to 1,321 pence (US$26.11; euro19.51) on the London Stock Exchange.
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