Investment in Oncology Drug Development Remains Strong as 133 Companies Initiate Late-Stage Clinical Trials Representing a 21% Increase

NEW YORK, June 2, 2011 -

- Trials targeting non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer and multiple
hematological cancers are amongst the most active, while Roche and Novartis
had the most oncology trial starts of any company

Citeline, the world's leading research authority on pharmaceutical
clinical trials and intelligence recently completed a comprehensive review of
clinical trial starts in the oncology therapeutic area to uncover trends and
patterns in drug development. Over the one-year review period (October 2009
through September 2010) over 400 late stage trials were initiated in the
oncology sector, more than any other therapeutic area, according to Citeline
analysts.

(Photo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110602/NE12798 )

Non-small cell lung cancer was the leading disease type, followed closely
by breast cancer. "Notably, trials enrolling multiple hematological cancers
and multiple solid tumors came in third and sixth, respectively, among all
oncology diseases," commented Dr. Fern Barkalow, Oncology Senior Analyst at
Citeline. "These trials represented 10% of the total, which was almost double
that of the prior year, suggesting an effort by industry to increase the
likelihood of success."

Additional highlights from the Citeline analysis include the following:

    - Hodgkin's lymphoma and supportive care were the only indications that
      had more Phase III than Phase II trial starts.
    - Both Merck KGaA and Boehringer Ingelheim had the highest proportions of
      Phase III to Phase II trial starts.
    - The majority of the trials initiated by the leading five companies
      evaluated targeted therapies, ranging from 63% to 97% of their trial
      starts.

Sector sees new entrants

The high level of activity in the oncology therapeutic area was further
underlined by the significant number (133) of distinct companies sponsoring
new trials in the 12-month period. This represents a 21% increase over the
previous year. Coincident with the increase in the number of sponsors, was a
small decrease (16%) in the number of trial starts. "This could be the result
of the apparent trend toward testing multiple cancer types together in one
Phase II trial," noted Dr. Barkalow.

Twenty companies sponsored more than half of all the new trials during
the year. Roche and Novartis initiated nearly twice as many as any other
company, with Celgene, Lilly and Pfizer rounding out the top five.

ASCO meeting to highlight trials in progress

The upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
(ASCO) to be held June 3 - 7, 2011 includes a poster session devoted to
clinical trials in progress. Nearly one-third of the abstracts scheduled for
presentation in this session involve breast cancer. "This is a great
opportunity to highlight features of ongoing trials, such as novel designs,
and many of the trials reported in the Citeline trial starts analysis are
likely to be included," commented Susan Danheiser, Citeline Senior Director
for Oncology & Analytics. "This year again, Citeline will cover the clinical
trials presented at the ASCO annual meeting, and it will be interesting to
see how the landscape may change." Multiple solid tumors and breast cancer
were the leading areas of investigation for trials of all phases presented at
last year's meeting, and Roche was the leading industry sponsor.

To download a full copy of the report, go to
www.citeline.com/preview/incite

About Citeline

Citeline (www.citeline.com) provides the world's most comprehensive
real-time R&D intelligence to the pharmaceutical industry, covering global
clinical trial, investigator and drug intelligence. Our data is drawn from
over 18,000 unique sources and analyzed by the industry's largest team - over
250 full-time expert analysts and editors.

All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Julie McKenna, Julie.mckenna at citeline.com, Citeline Marketing Manager, +1-617-415-1981