{
  "id": 5484267,
  "title": "Hope sells: inroads in cancer treatment excite markets",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/hope-sells-inroads-in-cancer-treatment-excite-markets",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-04T03:22:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Al Majalla English",
    "slug": "al-majalla-english",
    "url": "https://en.majalla.com/node/332870/business-economy/hope-sells-inroads-cancer-treatment-excite-markets"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hope sells: Inroads in cancer treatment excite markets. A cancer diagnosis can be a life-altering event, but 2026 marks a significant shift from the grim prognosis of the past. Scientists are making remarkable strides in pinpointing tumors, harnessing immune system \"teaching\" techniques, creating personalized vaccines, and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and genomic data to uncover hidden targets. Every positive clinical outcome has the potential to generate billions in revenue for pharmaceutical companies, spurring investment in biotechnology. Big drugmakers vie for partnerships and acquisitions while venture capitalists seek the company that might unlock the next transformative therapy. Research demands capital to transition ideas into blockbuster medications, and investors believe financing life-saving innovations may create new markets and substantial wealth. Despite the challenges, cancer remains a persistent issue in dire need of solutions. Approximately 54.2 million people globally are within five years of a cancer diagnosis, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer's 2024 estimates. That year alone, 20.6 million new cases were reported, and 9.8 million people succumbed to the disease. As the incidence rises, treatments advance, and patients live longer, the market expands accordingly. Immunotherapies, targeted treatments, cell therapies, and personalized vaccines based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology are opening up new possibilities for patients who, just a few years ago, had limited options. These advances are revolutionizing laboratories and attracting capital. The world's largest pharmaceutical companies invest billions in oncology research and billions more acquiring and collaborating with biotech firms in a relentless pursuit of the next big breakthrough before their competitors can. Oncology medicines currently represent some of the largest sources of revenue for the pharmaceutical industry. Merck's Keytruda generated $31.7 billion in 2025, Johnson & Johnson's Darzalex accounted for $14.35 billion, and Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo brought in $10 billion. In 2023, Pfizer acquired biotech company Seagen for $43 billion, doubling Pfizer's oncology pipeline. According to the latest data from the IQVIA Institute's Global Oncology Trends 2025 report, cancer medicine spending reached $252 billion in 2024 (calculated at list prices, excluding other medical-care costs and supportive therapies). IQVIA anticipates that figure to surge to $441 billion by 2029—a 75% increase over five years. If accurate, the market will expand from an average of $21 billion per month in 2024 to $37 billion per month by 2029. In the pharmaceutical industry, markets rarely wait for a treatment to reach the shelves before placing their bets. The success or failure of major, randomized trials can add or subtract billions in market capitalization within hours. Companies are therefore eager to pursue experimental technologies that could give rise to entire families of treatments. In the realm of antibody-drug conjugates, American company Merck signed a $22 billion agreement with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo in 2023 to develop and commercialize three experimental cancer therapies. Merck paid $4 billion upfront and an additional $1.5 billion later, but the majority of the deal's potential value hinges on future sales milestones. In cell therapy, Switzerland's Roche acquired US biotech company Poseida Therapeutics in 2025 for $1 billion, with the total value potentially reaching $1.5 billion. The acquisition targets a new generation of off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies, which reprogram a patient's immune cells (T-cells) to identify and eliminate cancer cells. Cancer vaccines are also drawing substantial commitments. Merck and Moderna are developing a personalized vaccine based on mRNA technology, while Germany's BioNTech is channeling more scientific effort into oncology, spending $2.4 billion on cancer research and development (R&D) in 2025. On August 19, 2026, Moderna and Merck announced that their experimental personalized cancer vaccine had met the primary endpoint of a Phase III trial in patients with high-risk melanoma when used alongside Merck's Keytruda. They did not disclose detailed data but stated that the treatment extended the time before the cancer returned and decreased the likelihood of its spread. Moderna's shares surged 177% in the following trading session, adding nearly $45 billion to its market value, while Merck's shares climbed 12.6% to a record high.",
  "summary": "Hope sells: inroads in cancer treatment excite markets newspress_en Fri, 09/04/2026 - 04:22 Business & Economy A cancer diagnosis can shake lives, but in 2026 it is not the death sentence it once was. Scientists are becoming increasingly precise at striking tumours, developing technologies that ‘teach’ the immune system, designing vaccines tailored to each tumour's genetic signature, and using…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}