Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘KRAS G12C’

All is not what it seems

You see a dry cleaners, I see a gelato shop in San Diego (yes, really)

Lately the cancer research space is abuzz with the promise of several novel therapeutic approaches, each touted as the next speculation akin to gold panning or tulip mania in centuries past.

As the field rapidly expands, a couple of nagging questions emerge:

  • Can the market truly support the sheer volume of agents now in development?
  • What does success in this particular niche actually look like?

The issue extends far beyond the usual breathless hype and headlines. The reality is many smaller biotechs are on a collision course with a ‘day of reckoning’, as the large pharma players inevitably shift their focus either to snapping up the cream of the crop and through their resources as clinical development or seek fresher opportunities. The unforgiving nature of this ecosystem is nothing new, of course. Yet the current scale of the current pipeline frenzy is truly staggering.

Amidst this frenetic activity, however, glimpses of genuine innovation manage to cut through the noise. The latest dataset from the AACR annual meeting provides a window into some of the more novel strategies taking shape in early stage research. While the hype around certain candidates may be getting ahead of the data, the insights reveal both the promise and potential pitfalls of this highly competitive therapeutic landscape.

As the field continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, discerning fact from fiction will be essential. Mere incremental advances will struggle to capture and hold attention for the long run and, more importantly, investment in an environment hungry for promising agents to fill aging pipelines with gaps coming up thanks to loss of exclusivity.

The thing is, it’s easy to forget only the most compelling, well-differentiated approaches will be poised to navigate this tricky terrain successfully…

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Kicking KRAS to the kerb

Sunny San Diego

It’s very rare for any oncology category to see lasting success with the first couple of attempts to drug a particular target, especially where the oncogenic addiction is very strong.

It takes a village to figure out how to improve on the original innovators in order to find novel answers to the signals emerging from their work.

Yet often it is the iterations which ultimately move the needle, just as osimertinib and alectinib did in EGFR and ALK non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Will we see the same trend also happen in KRAS G12C mutated cancers?

In our latest company interview, we’re highlighting the work of Frontier Medicines with their creative next generation strategy to tackling KRAS G12C in people with lung, colon, and pancreatic cancers…

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Just can’t get enough

Gone Fishing!

The dawn of the 1980s represented a much more optimistic future than what it eventually turned out to be – will we see the same trend evolve with the seemingly myriad of attempts to box in certain cancer targets?

In some ways this has turned into a bit of a fishing expedition in several ways:

  • Uncovering mechanisms of resistance
  • Finding rational combinations with a decent therapeutic window
  • Developing next generation agents to address the limitations of the earlier versions

If we want to see success in the clinic then what might this look like in the next round of trials and who are the companies active in developing them?

It turns out there are a few surprises in store…

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Shining a beacon

Shining a beacon on key GI trials

After covering a lot of science of late it’s now time to review some recent clinical data, discuss some of the implications of the findings, and their potential impact.

After all, science doesn’t exist in a vacuum and how it translates into outcomes in people living with cancer is an important part of the process.

Can we help them live longer and feel better are two important questions to ask when looking at study readouts.

Let’s not forget there’s quite a difference when considering the exposure of light from a lighthouse beacon versus a typical torch.

The former is designed to produce an extremely powerful, far-reaching beam that can propagate over long distances. A torch has much more modest lighting capabilities suitable for short-range use. The exact brightness difference depends on the specific lighthouse and torch, but it can reasonably be assumed the lighthouse beam is orders of magnitude more intense.

In a similar fashion, we need to look at phase 1 and 3 trials through different lenses, just as we ought to do with the potential 14th agent to market versus the first…

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Process is power

If you had to name one company who have executed well in the IO space, it’s hard to argue against Merck with their consistent and relentless efforts from the pembrolizumab clinical development program building a blockbuster niche by niche.

Dawn of a new IO era at ESMO23?

Beyond checkpoint blockade, what’s next?

Are they a sparkly one-horse wonder or are there real possibilities to build a kingdom based on rational combinations?

Not every phase 1 pipeline agent is going to make it to the next stage, never mind over the finish line to market – some folks might think of this as the funnel of shame. The indiscriminate mud flinging which follows an ‘as many shots on goal as possible’ winner takes-all-approach is limiting, however, when you realise it creates an achilles heel in strategic thinking.

Instead suppose you can build a linchpin to enable you to build on while offering a helping hand up to some of your other early products in combination? To do this you need optimised agents which play well when combined. Now you have a very different proposition while raising the bar to other competitors – who may not have similar agents with optimal properties.

In our latest company interview, we explore the progress with several of Merck’s early stage products, look from the lens of how they see them, and where they’re headed…

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Ever Decreasing Circles

Fall Colors in Boston

The Fall cancer conference season is in full swing with the TARGETS and ESMO23 meetings both coming up this month.

Here we take a look at what to watch out for in both small and ‘large’ small molecules these include various epigenetic targets, KRAS, and SHP2.

The headline for today’s post was inspired by a British TV sitcom from the 1980s, which kind of reminds me of how perception of many of these targets has changed over time…  as in time went on, in ever decreasing circles, the hype wore off and despair sets in.

Of course, there’s always redemption down the road in some form or other, as illustrated by the Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

In this case, as the lustre fades on some of the frontrunners there’s now a rising tide of different – yet related – targets, as well as new compounds and combinations coming through – what’s not to like?

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Kicking KRAS to the kerb

Singapore – host for WCLC23

In our second post from the World Congress on Lung Cancer (WCLC) being held in Asia this year, we review over half a dozen datasets on KRAS developments.

Here we cover preclinical and clinical updates, monotherapy and combinations, as well as some likely future directions based on emerging data…

For the record there were also a couple of controversial surprises in store this year…

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A flurry of new biomarkers are coming to the fore

Jockeying for position

Our latest post discusses recent updates on biomarker research across several cancer types.

These include several types of lung cancer, as well as prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and bladder cancer.

Not all the trials mentioned returned a positive result, although some were much more encouraging. Either way, there is much to learn from the analyses and offer some pointers for the future.

Also included are a dozen or so pharma or biotech companies whose work might be impacted by the findings described within. Yours could be one of them…

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What’s hot in lung cancer?

Gardens by the Bay in Singapore

With the abstract titles now available for the World Congress in Lung Cancer (WCLC), it’s time to take a look at what we can expect for the meeting coming up in early September.

In our latest conference Preview, we have highlighted several education sessions to look at, as well as ten key oral presentations to watch out for…

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Digging deep for answers

Imagine walking through some delightful countryside or along the coastal headlands…

Suppose you are then informed somewhere in this vicinity is a small patch – just one – of bright purple thistles in full bloom and your job is to find them as quickly and expeditiously as possible.

This is one challenge facing Pharmaland on a daily basis and while it sounds easy in theory, it often is more time consuming to answer than many may realise, including analysts chasing their colour commentary.

Today’s story explains the problem and illustrates how it might be tackled…

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