Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘Genentech’

On biomarkers and bispecifics

It’s lonely out there sometimes

Have you often wondered about the challenges of going into the unknown with phase 1 or even phase 3 trials for cancer?

Sometimes it seems like the summer crowds packing Bournemouth beach and you can’t find any space or place to sit, while others are more akin to the lonely buoy marking an empty beach.

Today’s oncology target has seen both extremes in its time with breathless hype followed by the depths of despair and lost interest from many of the madding crowds.

It’s still going though, with phase 3 readouts awaited and new competitors still entering the landscape.

There’s also some emerging science, including biomarker data to explore…

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AACR23 Preview 5 – an emerging landscape

Bridge over troubled waters or time to lay down?

In our latest preview, we’re taking a look at a pathway previously thought to be ‘undruggable’ – an awful term we increasingly should think carefully about using given it may only reflect the limitations of current science.

As we’ve seen with KRAS – and this piece is not about that pathway – innovative science can quickly turn the ‘undruggable’ into something much more ‘tractable’ with the right agents.

In our latest post we’re looking at the emerging landscape for a class of new agents in early development we expect to hear more about at the AACR23 annual meeting in Orlando.

Which companies will be the winners and losers is too early to tell, but much like crossing the bridge in Iwakuni, are you better off staying with the group, or taking an entirely different route to success?

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ASH20 Preview of progress with bispecific antibodies

After a totally crazy last week, I must say it’s a tremendous relief to get back to focusing on science and early stage clinical development!

Behind the all the ongoing political and Covid-19 furore, the ASH abstracts dropped unexpectedly early on November 4th instead of Bonfire Night and this week it’s the start of the SITC meeting with live presentations already starting.

Every year we post a series of Previews highlighting key data to watch out for on key selected topics. The focus varies with each meeting with a look at different targets, modalities, or tumour types. This year we’re kicking off our coverage with a focused look at bispecific antibodies in early development…

Are bispecifics flying high at ASH20?

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Can we add fire to the immune system with TIGIT?

Not in Chicago: We continue our ASCO coverage with a look at the evolving TIGIT landscape and the initial tiragolumab data in lung cancer.

With all the breathless hype of late one wonders if some observers believe (accompanied by loud trumpeting of horns) this is the next big checkpoint target after CTLA-4 and PD(L)1, but is it?  The field has barely got started with a raft of new trials opening to evaluate several molecules in different combinations across solid tumours, and yet we have something of a fanfare already.

Will TIGIT roar and fire up the immune system in some people with cancer or will it fizzle out?

To those of us familiar with new product development and early stage development the ‘hot’ status is likely leaving us somewhat bemused at the noise around the emerging targets, after all it’s going to be a long while before we see those all important phase 3 readouts with appropriate head-to-head comparisons.

In this latest article, we take a look at the Genentech antibody, tiragolumab, and also discuss the development with a company executive to gain their perspectives, insights and rationale on what was behind the recent trial expansions beyond the phase 1 study in advanced solid cancers.

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ASCO20 Preview on the importance of modality in oncology R&D

Continuing our ASCO20 coverage with another Preview in the pre-meeting series, we turn our attention to a particular modality of keen interest to many of our readers.

In this latest article, we highlight ten areas within the niche and include an array of companies, both big and small, across Pharma and Biotechs.

Some of them have some nice data to share, others will be footnotes to the meeting, but who fits into what category and what can we learn from the abstracts upfront?

To find out more, we looked very carefully at the hints and nuance which inevitably grace the writer’s pen – it’s time to hone in on where are the flourishes and the crossings out this year?

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Putting some colour on the TIGIT niche

Time for some additional colour commentary!

There has been some incredibly intense interest surrounding TIGIT as a new therapeutic target in oncology of late, to the point where some observers have been wildly claiming this is the new universal checkpoint everyone has been waiting for.

But is it?

It’s early days yet with little data presented from people with cancer, so at this point it could well be a bit of a stretch to find another anti-PD–1/PD-L1 equivalent, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t utility in seeing clinical activity in some tumour types, far from it.

In our latest post, we take a look at what’s coming up in the TIGIT niche, along with an interview from a company active in this niche.

What do the company have to say and how do they see this panning out?

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Bench to bedside and back again

Can we break through the barriers of a hostile tumour microenvironment?

Who would have thought that after 30 years of no new therapies that urothelial carcinomas would suddenly be almost constantly in the spotlight with enticing words like cancer immunotherapy, biomarkers, tumour microenvironment, translational immunology etc?

And yet it has happened – with a lot more to come in this highly competitive niche too.

Prior to AACR in Chicago, we highlighted TGFβ in our Preview series as an important emerging target that is gathering attention and may be relevant in tumour types, such as urothelial carcinoma and ovarian cancer.

After the meeting, Dr Paul Rennert (CSO, Aleta Biotherapeutics) noted:

I don’t disagree with either of these sentiments – there was a reason we interviewed a lot of NK cell enthusiasts recently and we have since been rolling out our thought leader mini-series focused on TGFβ. Yesterday, we kicked off with perspectives from an academic researcher active in this field and tomorrow will showcase some practical clinical perspectives.

On deck today, we have a interview with a research scientist who has conducted both basic and translational work for a discussion about how he sees the learnings that have arisen from bench to bedside and back again.

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Can TMB help select patients for lung cancer therapy or not?

Chicago!

One of the key topics arising out of probably the hottest session (lung cancer clinical trials plenary) at AACR last week was tumour mutation burden (TMB).

An important question to be addressed was whether or not the nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination from the CheckMate–227 study will be useful in previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with a high TMB?

There are a number of questions that occurred to us that need careful consideration:

  • Is TMB ready for prime time?
  • What are the challenges and issues involved?
  • How useful are the data from CheckMate–227 and CheckMate–568?
  • Where are we going next?

To find out more, we had some fascination discussions at AACR with two up and coming young researchers from industry (Dr David Fabrizio of Foundation Medicine) and academia (Dr Nicky McGranahan from UCL in London), who are both experts intimately involved in measuring TMB.

What did they had to say and what does it all mean?

Their candid answers may well surprise a few people…

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How will the RCC landscape change – who dares, wins?!

For what seems the longest time, we have seen the battle in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) being focused on various anti-VEGF TKIs, whether against interferon, mTOR inhibitors, and even each other.

Lately, anti-PD(L)1 antibodies have also come on the scene – both as monotherapy and in different combinations – so are things set to change?

Will it be plaining sailing or are there hidden dangers ahead for the unwary?

Here, we take a look at the ever evolving landscape in RCC and explore the issues and challenges surrounding some of the novel combination readouts, including a look at the role immuno-oncology might play going forward.

Not surprisingly, there’s a lot to consider, discuss and think about…

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The Future of Cancer Vaccines Part 2 – interview with Dr Ira Mellman

Dr Ira Mellman is a leading cancer researcher, familiar to many in cancer immunotherapy for his work on the Cancer-Immunity Cycle and Cancer-Immune Set-Point with Dr Dan Chen.

Prior to joining Genentech, he spent 20 years as a faculty member at Yale, publishing extensive research on dendritic cells.

River Rhine, Mainz

Last year, Genentech announced a strategic collaboration with Mainz based BioNTech in Germany to develop and manufacture personalized mRNA based cancer vaccines.

At the recent CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR cancer international cancer immunotherapy conference in Mainz, Dr Mellman kindly spoke to BSB about the underlying biology/immunology, the rationale behind the BioNTech collaboration, and his vision on where he sees the potential for therapeutic cancer vaccines going forward.

This is the second post in our series on the Future of Cancer Vaccines.

Here’s a snippet of the interview with Dr Mellman to get you warmed up…

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