Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Immunotherapy

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Posts by MaverickNY

Breaking down doors at ASCO24

One of the themes we have been watching out for at ASCO this year is new targets and novel combination strategies.

In each of the daily highlights we have selected five examples which jump out – for various reasons.

The early phase 1/2 trials obviously won’t be practice changing in the way a major global pivotal trial will be, yet they often offer useful clues for some of the new direections coming through company pipelines.

Today’s selection are a mix of early and late stage trials to ponder…

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Bridge over troubled waters at ASCO24

The devil as they say is in the detail and teasing out what oncology clinical trial data really means can be challenging for the best of us.

In this post we take a look at several trials  reported out at ASCO24 and consider some of the nuances around the data, in particular what cancer new product professionals may need to think about in order to have an informed opinion.

For some, the data is a bridge over troubled waters, while for others the results were perhaps a bridge too far…

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Controversies and pitfalls at ASCO24

Time for a pitstop to reflect on some ASCO24 data

Day 1 at ASCO is usual a nice easy glide into the clinical sessions with barely a moment of controversy to be seen.

Not this year, however.

If you’re going to buck the trend then you might as well do it with a splash – something which can be interpreted positively or negatively depending upon your perspective.

Talking of pitstops always reminds me of those colourful Hanna-Barbera Wacky Races cartoons so familiar from our childhood with their insanely odd vehicles and absurd plot developments.

Are some of the claims coming out of Chicago living up to these expectations one might well wonder?

In the first of our daily commentaries from the annual meeting, we take a look at four very different trial readouts and discuss the issues they raise because all is not what it seems in some cases…

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How to beat your competition

With new trial data being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today, a provocative question on the minds of many interested in hematologic malignancies is…

Do we really need yet another tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)? Is it time to go in a new direction?

Instead I’m going to turn it around and suggest we consider the issue in an entirely different way:

What’s the best thing to do for people living with CML?

The solution lies not in the usual chestnut about having more choice or available options, but rather in how can they be helped more by having access to a different therapy?  What do they gain or lose from it?

When we look at the situation in this fashion then the answer quietly speaks for itself…

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A Renaissance in Biomarkers at ASCO24

Duomo, Firenze – a Renaissance masterpiece

This week I have been very much struck by the stark contrast between the neat, organised, and predictable nature of Renaissance architecture and the chaotic, complex, and interconnected challenge of developing robust cancer biomarkers.

While Renaissance architects could rely on established mathematical principles to create harmonious designs, scientists working on cancer biomarkers must navigate a much more unpredictable and intricate landscape, seeking patterns and reliable indicators in the midst of biological complexity.

While biomarkers are much harder to find amidst the chaos of tumour heterogeneity, this doesn’t mean the task is impossible or we should stop the attempt altogether.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite, as these intriguing examples we’ve selected for discussion from the ASCO abstracts this year illustrate…

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A new dawn or the sunsetting of cytokines?

Much has been written about cytokines over the last decade in terms of various ways of employing them systematically as cancer therapeutics.

There has been little success reported, however, beyond a small number of patients receiving high dose IL-2 in certain situations such as melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

What if we take an orthoganal approach to the problem and explore different ways of delivering the desired effects?

Does this change the outcomes, and with it, our thinking?

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Choose wisely

In part two of our mini-series on tulip mania in Pharmaland, where oncology companies are switching their attention and focus from one niche to another, we take a look at how perceptions can change with time.

What looks a wide open landscape may not be all it first appears

Sometimes though, what initially looks like a less crowded space than the original one may rapidly turn out to be quite different than supposed in a very short space of time.

The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for because choosing wisely is just as important as executing, as we learn in this exercise…

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The hidden dangers of tulip mania

Dog Drug Heaven high in the hills above Edinburgh

With every new shiny or sparkly category coming through oncology pipelines, there’s nearly always a sense of fervent tulip mania once the niche reaches a certain threshold of new compounds moving into the clinic.

The latest such example is antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

It’s time to think about some of the practicalities and reality checks because few things in oncology R&D ought to be viewed from the perspective of rose tinted glasses.

Instead of breathless hype, we’re taking a common sense perspective deeply rooted in first principles around targeted therapies.

Look before you leap into the unknown – because there are plenty of clues regarding where this niche is headed for many early stage agents…

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Who’s showing a clean set of heels at ASCO24?

Who’s getting away from the competition this year?

One of the many challenges in early stage drug development is figuring out who’s showing the competition a clean set of heels…

Meaning to get ahead of the pack.

In the run-up between AACR and ASCO the chatter starts with ‘oh, but the response rate was 66%!’

Only you look at the small print and realise it was 4/6 responders, half of whom were unconfirmed – and may never be confirmed if the tumours have progressed. Ah.

If we look carefully beyond the breathless hype of press releases and curtain raisers, what stands out as trials worth looking at more carefully, for better or worse?  Here we offer 15 abstracts to watch out for at ASCO in three weeks time…

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Early stage cancers

There has been quite a movement of late in focusing on active treatment of early stage disease rather than watchful waiting under the basic premise the earlier we treat early stage cancers, the better the outcomes.

Is this hypothesis sound given the majority will be benign and can be left alone? Do we really need to over treat many in order to see benefit in just a few individuals?

First, do no harm.

Instead, what if we could select out many of the high risk patients for escalation and leave the rest alone?

Ah, now this is a much more selective strategy I could get on board with.  This then begs the provocative question of how on earth do we go about identifying them?

Last week something novel and intriguing cropped up and captured my attention on this very front…

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