Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘Amgen’

Competition rapidly heats up in the KRAS space!

The calm before the storm as the KRAS competition heats up and also gets more complex in the process

I was very tempted to tease everyone and say something along the lines of… ‘while you were all partying, there was some new KRAS clinical data being presented somewhere in the world’ but that would be rather naughty, I suspect.

Instead, I’ll simply point out that it’s time to take a look at the latest phase 1 data in the KRAS niche.

What more clinical data already?!

Yes there is and what’s more it doesn’t belong to the either of the leading two in the early race to market, aka Amgen and Mirati.  There’s a whole bigger world out there for those interested in following the broader slate runners and riders.  It pays to pay attention because this is not a race about single agent therapies, rather it’s about who figures out the optimal combinations and is able to finesse that better than their competitors.  Like real horse races, an unexpected runner can surprise a few folks by making a strong push on the rails or a bounding leap round the outside like Lester Piggott was famous for doing.

This highly specialised field is moving much faster than the BRAFV600E arena was a decade ago and there’s also more players involved too, plus multiple different approaches and targets to consider, which I expect we will be covering quite a few times during 2020.

Are you ready?

Get set, GO!

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JPM20 Highlights from Day 2

San Francisco – the 2020 JP Morgan Healthcare conference is now in full swing, and we’re continuing our coverage with another rolling blog that provides review and analysis of company presentations, deals, and plans for the coming year.

Some of the companies featured in yesterday’s commentary were: BMS, Incyte, Novartis, Deciphera, Allogene, Nektar, Seattle Genetics, Mirati, and Clovis.

While our focus on BSB is mainly writing about the science driving innovation and new product development, especially in oncology and immunology, it’s good to hear what companies are looking to accomplish in the coming year and then put that in context.

Cancer drug development, whether it be with targeted therapies or immuno-oncology remains a fast moving and continually evolving field, and one you have to keep your finger on the pulse of if you don’t want to be left behind.

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Update on the KRAS Runners and Riders

In Pharmaland it is frequently the case that once a target has been validated there’s always new developments in the form of novel agents that emerge, as well as emerging new related targets to consider.

Standing from the KRAS crowd

Here we combine an update on some new market entrants in the KRAS niche with an expert interview discussing how to address a known area of acquired resistance that has recently been highlighted.  Naturally, that also brings with it yet more novel targets and potential combination strategies that may need to be considered by players in this space.

Yes, KRAS G12C is now a rapidly evolving area with multiple players and many moving parts, whereas even just back in January this year many observers saw it as a three horse race – think again, it’s much deeper and broader than that somewhat naive hypothesis already!

As usual, we follow these races longitudinally with regular updates and explain why new scientific findings need to be considered if we are to make a difference in the clinic with future combination strategies.

Are you ready for the latest game of 3D chess?

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What do we learn from a first look at Mirati’s KRAS G12C inhibitor MRTX849?

Boston – One of the most enjoyable things about writing about science and early clinical oncology data is the relationships we build with thought leaders, such that they can be open and honest about their reactions, without them being judged, misinterpreted, or misquoted. We’re on a journey with them, whatever the ups and downs might bring, in a bid to capture the realities of the oncology R&D rollercoaster.

Don’t be fooled by the gloomy Boston weather as a metaphor for data presented at Targets19!

Each story becomes a snapshot in time, a short of ‘Kodak moment’, if you will.

Imagine then, capturing a discussion with a global lung thought leader discussing the initial data from the first-in-man trial with a KRASG12C inhibitor from Mirati (MRTX849) and his experiences in treating people with advanced lung cancer who have the dreaded KRAS mutation, which until recently there were no effective options for.

Thus, we captured the exuberance of seeing objective responses in patients for the first time, “It’s fantastic!” and at the same time qualifying that with a balanced and candidly objective perspective, “it’s still early days.”

Both are true, and not mutually exclusive.

In between these two extremes there is much to think about including understanding the inevitable resistance mechanisms that evolve (primary and secondary), figuring out how to optimize the combination trials as well as reactions to other, seemingly competitive, developments. Our expert in the hot seat today had some rather thought provoking ideas on these important topics to discuss that we wanted to share and stimulate some debate on.

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Further issues surrounding RAS inhibition in oncology

As we head into the AACR-NCI-EORTC Triple meeting in Boston this weekend, excitement is growing around a suite of RAS inhibitors in lung, colon and other cancers.

Charles River, Boston in October

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve received a bunch of questions from readers on several topics relating to this niche that I thought would be useful to spend some time on to set the scene ahead of the data dump expected on Monday and Tuesday.

Some people do like to try and simplify things thinking that it’s just a matter of adding in a checkpoint blocker or something else and boom! off we go… Except that we know from past experience with similar agents against different related targets that this won’t necessarily be the case and we look at some of the reasons why.

Yes I know folks are likely expecting too much in terms of efficacy, but we can put some framework and structure around the issues on which to build on, which are actually more than many may realise plus it could also be tumour and even patient dependent.

So here we go with a joint KRAS mailbag, together with a short expert interview with a view to highlighting some crucial roadblocks that are likely heading our way…

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Update on Amgen’s KRAS inhibitor in solid tumours

Barcelona – Today is going to be a very long and complex day at ESMO, with a multitude of key data expected from several trials ranging from the phase 1 Amgen data update on their KRASG12C inhibitor, AMG 510, AstraZeneca’s osimertinib in the FLAURA study plus a raft of others, including the phase 3 PAOLA–1 and CheckMate–227 trials.

In order to keep all the information straight and manage the various embargo deadlines at wildly different times, we’re going to break with tradition and post three different articles at different times on KRAS, FLAURA, and the daily running log of various studies and posters that catch our interest. Yes it’s a lot more work, but it’s the only way to manage all the deadlines!

This post will focus solely for the KRAS updates at ESMO19, including the initial data release, the presentation, analyses, and commentary. No doubt that means a series of updates will ensue so do check back regularly or follow the alerts on Twitter via @biotechstrategy.

Let’s roll!

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Targeting KRAS – Highlights from WCLC 2019

Chariots of Fire in Barcelona?

Barcelona – Gosh, what a weekend chock full of lung cancer data at the World Congress on Lung Cancer hosted by the IASLC!

There’s nothing like a bit of controversy to get riled up or crash with disappointed hopes under the weight of expectation, but if we go under the hood and look carefully, what do we find?

There was a lot of topics that we’re going to cover the important highlights and learnings in a two parter series – today we focus on KRAS with targeted therapy, while tomorrow we look at other topics of interest, both targeted and immunologic.

Without much ado, let’s roll with the Amgen update as there are many subtleties and nuances to consider…

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A look at Amgen’s early oncology pipeline

Continuing our bispecific mini-series, we now switch from small to large biotech with a look at what Amgen are doing in this niche. They have both regular bispecifics, as well as T cell bispecifics in their early pipeline.

Our latest company interview focuses on several early phase 1 new product developments.

Aside from the BiTEs, we also discuss the clinical program with one of their most promising small molecules, AMG 510, a KRAS selective inhibitor that has been drawing much attention since the chemical structure was unveiled at AACR earlier this year.

There was much ballyhoo and yet more garish headlines in the media at ASCO regarding ‘Amgen showed it had developed a medicine that shrank tumors in 50% of lung cancer patients’ – in 10 patients. Was it really 10 people or a much higher number if we consider intent to treat amongst evaluable patients? Then of course, taking a small sample size into consideration, the next 10 might produce quite different results. We might also see resistance set in down the road (e.g. at 9 to 12 months as we have with BRAFi), so these are really very early days, something we pointed out during the daily ASCO coverage.

To be clear, I can say that both companies included in yesterday’s (Neon Therapeutics) and today’s (Amgen) articles were sensible, thoughtful, and well measured in how they handled the data rollouts, but the media frenzy that occurred with each is quite something else.

Since we had quite a few BSB readers ask about both sets of data, having discussed Neon’s yesterday, today we offer an interview with an Amgen exec at the heart of their early stage programs…

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What to watch out for in Bispecifics at ASCO19

Bispecifics in the garden? Who knows!

We’re continuing our preview of the ASCO 2019 annual meeting (Twitter #ASCO19) with a look at a fast-paced area of drug development that is attracting a lot of interest, namely the potential of bispecifics as novel cancer treatments.

On BSB we’ve been following this emerging field for the past five years or so, but at this year’s ASCO we expect to hear clinical data that may offer new insights.

If you’ve been in London this past week, then you may have been at the annual Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show, which features impressively designed show gardens built around a theme or location. They’re built with great attention to detail just for Chelsea, then at a few days they’re dismantled.

Large cancer meetings like ASCO19 are a bit like that too. We all come together for a few days to mix and mingle then go our separate ways again.

In the spirt of Chelsea, in this post we’re taking a look at what to watch for in the “ASCO19 bispecific garden,” if one were to be made.  There’s certainly a surfeit of choice to consider and like flowers, some may flourish under certain conditions, but not others.

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Challenges of targeting KRAS G12C and why Amgen’s AMG 510 may not be a winner

Henry Moore sculpture – looks like a protein binding pocket!

Cambridge, UK – It’s somewhat ironic that we headed across town today to chat with one of the world’s leading cell biologists on MYC and RAS with a post on KRASG12C inhibitors almost ready in the bag. More on that interview in a future mini-series.

There are a number of nuances and subtleties involved in this niche, which have been somewhat lost in the frantic hype over hope melêe of late.

This review discussing KRAS and various other co-mutations such as LKB1/STK11 is a long and thorough one,, and perhaps rather contrarian in nature.

That said, I do feel that it is very important to highlight a lot of issues that are being ignored in the rush to declare the latest expected winners and losers or even potential blockbusters, if the breathless signals are to be believed.

If nothing else, there are certainly several key issues that could have a bearing on the clinical results in patients that are worthwhile highlighting for discussion and adding to the watch list because some of these factors may well take time to develop.

This is one of those ‘Ground Control to Major Tom – take your protein pills and put your helmet on’ moments… Actually, I may well be needing the helmet as protection if the analysis and commentary turn out to be unpopular!!

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