Business Model
Vicus is pioneering a new and sustainable model of innovation in cancer care
The current approach to innovation in cancer care is unsustainable. "The escalating costs of cancer care combined with variations in concordance with evidence-based practice guidelines is putting the United States on a collision course for an impending collapse of its current health care system." March 13, 2010, National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 15th Annual Conference, “Clinical and Economic Issues Impacting Cancer Care Delivery. Leading physicians are even proposing that the United States adopt a NICE-type rationing of cancer treatment to prevent the collapse. September 13, 2010, Forbes, Drawing the Line on Overpriced Cancer Drugs.
Vicus' new business model enables patients to benefit from advances in cancer treatment with cost effective therapies.
First, Vicus' investigational therapies are comprised of "first-in-class-to-a-cancer" repurposed generic drugs that in small studies have already shown profound impact on cancer and its treatment. As such, if Vicus is able to confirm the safety and efficacy of these investigation therapies in FDA-sanctioned clinical studies, then patients will gain new treatment options and at a modest price.
Second, Vicus collaborates with leading physicians to design its clinical studies to assure the clinical data addresses the questions needed for evidence-based practice guidelines, such as the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Therefore, if the investigational therapies prove safe and effective, the new therapies can be incorporated into practice guidelines and rapidly adopted by all physicians and save payers hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Third, Vicus has created a self-funding approach to enable continuous innovation of cost effective therapies for patients with cancer. Vicus develops its therapies as adjunct (or add-on) treatments to improve the tolerance, adherence and response of the most advanced and therapeutically effective anti-cancer therapies. Vicus partners with pharmaceutical companies to offset development costs and receives milestone payments for the increase in clinical benefit that Vicus' adjunct therapies add to the partners' anti-cancer therapies. As such, Vicus can provide its therapies at a modest price while still generating sufficient income to fund Vicus' development of more breakthrough therapies for patients with cancer.