NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 27, 2012) - Advances in cancer screening and treatment has caused the death rate from cancer to drop dramatically in recent years. Cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent per year in men and 1.6 percent per year in women between 2004 and 2008, according to the American Cancer Society's annual report on cancer statistics. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for companies in the Biotechnology industry and provides equity research on Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ: [ EXEL ]) and Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ SGEN ]). Access to the full company reports can be found at:

[ www.fivestarequities.com/EXEL ]

[ www.fivestarequities.com/SGEN ]

Death rates fell in all four of the most common cancers, lung, colon, breast and prostate, with lung cancer accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total drop in men and breast cancer account for 34 percent of the total decline in women, the American Cancer Society report finds.

The U.S. FDA has been approving cancer drugs at a faster rate than its European counterpart (the EMA), Friends of Cancer Research reports. Between 2003 and 2010, the FDA not only approved more new cancer drugs than did the EMA, it approved these drugs more quickly: of 23 drugs approved by both agencies, the median time from marketing submission to FDA approval was 182 days vs. EMA approval of 350 days according to the report.

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Seattle Genetics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases in the United States. Earlier this month the company reported fourth quarter net loss for 2011 was $27.2 million, or a loss of 24 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $34.5 million, or a loss 34 cents per share, for the same period in 2010.

Exelixis' lead compound, cabozantinib, was recently highlighted in a new peer-reviewed publication "demonstrating that simultaneous inhibition of MET and VEGF signaling reduces tumor invasiveness and metastasis in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer," the company announced in a press release.

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