Pancreatic cancer’s standard of care includes a drug that does not help most people diagnosed with the disease. Gemcitabine (Gemzar) works in only about 10 percent of patients, says Steve Carchedi, CEO of Apexian Pharmaceuticals.
Carchedi knows about gemcitabine’s limitations because he worked at Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) when the FDA approved the Indianapolis-based company’s drug in 1996 to treat pancreatic cancer.
