Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)
Partners Summit Therapeutics and Akeso are expected to steal the show at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual conference with data from their potential Keytruda rival, alongside Revolution Medicine’s groundbreaking pancreatic cancer candidate and other assets that could reshape patient care.
Treatment with the TROP2 ADC sac-TMT led to a 70% objective response rate and progression-free survival was “significantly improved” as compared to placebo—the second positive readout for the asset this week.
Clinical trial setbacks have limited the near-term opportunities for some of Daiichi Sankyo’s ADCs but the drug developer is betting near-term readouts will catapult it into the top tier of oncology companies in the coming years.
Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in a pivotal endometrial cancer study, though the companies have yet to specify when they plan to file for approval.
Rina-S is the last candidate standing from Genmab’s $1.8 billion ProfoundBio acquisition two years ago, with the Danish drugmaker ending development of another clinical program stemming from the buyout.
On the heels of several big buys, Merck still has eyes for M&A—particularly in the oncology, immunology and cardiometabolic spaces—as the quest continues for a candidate that can top Keytruda.
After a quarter in which sales topped $15 billion and key readouts went AstraZeneca’s way, the company is increasingly confident that its 2030 revenue target is in reach.
The Merck update, which will shed light on a $588 million bet to succeed Keytruda, is part of a roster of presentations that could shape the future of ADCs, protein degraders and KRAS-targeted therapies.
Eli Lilly is putting its obesity windfall to work again, striking a new deal to acquire CrossBridge Bio, a small Texas biotech known for its cancer tech.
Trastuzumab pamirtecan, being developed under a 2023 partnership between BioNTech and DualityBio, elicited a 44.1% overall response rate in a Phase 2 trial.
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