Phase III

In the wake of Pfizer’s voluntary market withdrawal of the popular sickle cell disease therapy, BioSpace looks at five investigational drugs currently making their way through the pipeline.
The move is a blow to Gilead’s cancer portfolio. Trodelvy, an antibody-drug conjugate granted accelerated approval for bladder cancer in 2021, failed its confirmatory trial earlier this year.
Opdivo showed a 52% progression-free survival advantage over Adcetris in newly diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a Phase III study that combined either therapy with doxorubicin, vinblastine and dacarbazine.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals contends that its alkylating agent Zepzelca significantly improved both overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, when used as a front-line maintenance therapy with Roche’s Tecentriq.
At 52 weeks of follow-up, more patients on Eli Lilly’s monoclonal antibody Omvoh demonstrated histologic response, suggesting better long-term outcomes than Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster therapy Stelara.
The overall survival data from the late-stage trial will help Pfizer in its bid to expand the label for Talzenna and Xtandi, potentially covering all patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer regardless of biomarker status.
On the heels of Keytruda’s success in a Phase III perioperative trial for a disease where it had previously failed to improve event-free survival, Merck touts an I&I deal with UK biotech Mestag.
With Monday’s data from SAPPHIRE, Scholar Rock is building toward regulatory submissions for apitegromab in spinal muscular atrophy in the first quarter of 2025.
After several high-profile failures, including BMS’ $1.5B breakup with Agenus, anti-TIGIT therapies are generating cautious optimism.
Johnson & Johnson linked Carvykti to a 45% reduction in risk of death and Darzalex to a 61% improvement in minimal residual disease-negativity, boosting the prospects of two key growth drivers for the company.
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