Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘nivolumab’

New developments in immunotherapy from WCLC19

A rare dry spell in Barcelona as the clouds roll in bringing yet more rain

Barcelona – While the weather for the World Congress on Lung Cancer (WCLC) has been largely gloomy with plenty of rainy spells, there’s much good news to report on the clinical front.

After yesterday’s review of the Amgen KRAS inhibitor data in G12C mutation positive patients receiving AMG 510, it’s now time to turn our attention to immunotherapy developments with several important trial readouts and in-depth analyses to discuss.

We will be posting a separate summary of the key highlights on targeted therapy, but first let’s consider what we learned on the immunotherapy front, including some of the science behind it all…

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An in-depth look at Neon’s updated neoantigen vaccine data

Neon Therapeutics LogoAs we prepare for rolling out some additional expert interviews on a variety of topics together with another mini-series on a tricky target, I wanted to take a moment to explore the Neon Therapeutics data.

Most of the news reports yesterday seemed to be concentrated around a general theme of ’cancer vaccine assist beats immunotherapy drugs alone!’or ‘vaccine boosts Opdivo response in 3 cancers’ … but does the data live up to the breathless hype that ensued? What can we say about the latest clinical update?

As often is the case, the true story around the facts turns out to be much more nuanced and subtle in flavour than the garish headlines might have you believe…

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Sorting signals from the noise

The annual ASCO-SITC meeting (#ImmunoOnc19) was held in San Francisco this year and has come a long way from the inaugural event we attended in Orlando.

Finding the signals amongst the noise

In the original 2017 event, I vividly recall as stirring presentation from Dr Limo Chen on targeting CD38 in solid tumours, last year we wrote an update on GU cancers including the STING pathway.

What’s in store from San Francisco and how do we go about finding key signals from the noise?

Over the next two posts I’m going to focus on new findings in various approaches that either look interesting and worth watching, or where there are lessons that can be learned for future developments.

This time around, some of the highlights surprised even me…

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ASCO GU19 Renal Cancer Review

In the third part of our ASCO GU coverage from San Francisco, which includes previews and post-match commentary, it’s time to turn our attention to renal cancer. This isn’t one disease, but a broad tumour type with multiple subtypes, some based on histology, with perhaps others to emerge down the road as we learn more about the disease and immune profiling.

There’s quite a bit to discuss this year, some of it quite complex and nuanced.

In the old days, much of the focus was on sequencing single agent TKIs in clear cell carcinoma, now it’s getting much more complex as scientists and researchers figure out combinations and regimen approaches, never mind what to do with the various histologies.

We walk readers through the latest information as we await the data presentations coming out tomorrow…

 

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A look at what’s new in GU malignancies

Genito-urinary (GU) cancers are a diverse population of tumour types that run the gamut from prostate, bladder, penile, and renal cell carcinomas in the main, along with a variety of rare cancers thrown into the mix.

While much attention has tended to be focused on advanced and metastatic disease, for obvious reasons, there are plenty of new developments emerging in earlier stage disease.

This year things are looking up on several fronts, which is a great time to take a look at what to watch out for in GU malignancies…

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New developments in Prostate Cancer

At one point not too distant in the past, all the big news seemed to flow out of advanced prostate cancer with abiraterone and enzalutamide vying for attention, followed by occasional news on ARN–509, ODM–201, galeterone (remember that one from Tokai with all the AR-V7 kerfuffle?), radium Ra–223 dichloride, cabazitaxel, denosumab, ipilumumab, PROSTVAC, brachyury, and a few others. Predictably, not all were successful, and the count is still out on some.

San Francisco

In our latest conference coverage, we take a look at what we can learn from riding the prostate cancer train at ASCO GU ahead of the presentations in San Francisco tomorrow.

We will be updating this review as more data become available with the presentations, so do grab a cup of joe and settle down for some interesting reading ahead of time… this should get you all up to speed on the journey there!

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Insights from the ASCO GI19 conference

Hitching a ride on the Powell and Mason tram

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers comprise quite a wide variety of different tumour types, including those of the oesophagus and stomach, pancreas, small bowel and hepatobiliary tract, as well as the colon, rectum and anus.

With the possible exception of oesophagus and gastric/stomach cancers, this bunch of tumour types are generally colld rather than hot tumours for various reasons.

Aside from some recent forays by immune checkpoint blockade in gastric cancer, this field hasn’t had a lot of startling new developments to get excited about of late.

Are things finally changing?

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What can we learn from early IO trials?

SITC Phase 1 Review Part 1 – It’s time for a two-part mini-series on recent phase 1 clinical trials and how to interpret the findings.

Are we at a crosswords with IO combos?

As a former new products development professional, this is something that I’m particularly enthusiastic about.

While it is fascinating to see other people’s reactions to early oncology trials, these should often be taken with a very large pinch of salt, in my view.

In Part 1, it’s time to take a step back and understand not only what companies are doing, but also how they set the trials up and what they are looking for. We highlight some examples of data readouts to illustrate the points.

In Part 2 on Monday we take a rock around the clock at some of the other recent phase 1 readouts and explain what we can learn from what was presented. The devil is often in the small details that many observers miss at first glance.

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ESMO18 Preview 5 – A look at the evolving Renal Cell Carcinoma landscape

We’ll have “boots on the ground” for the 2018 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (Twitter: #ESMO18) that starts out of the gate on Friday in Munich.

The Fall cancer conference season is in swing…

Our conference coverage is not only about what data we think matters, particularly in the fast-moving world of immuno-oncology, but more importantly, why it matters.

Next up in our ESMO18 Previews, we take a closer look at renal cancer, an area that received some attention in Madrid last year and is likely to receive renewed focus again.

We also include a look at the broader RCC landscape in terms of US physician prescribing habits (i.e. KOL and Community oncologists), including some trend data to explore the impact of the nivo/ipi combination and cabozantinib data, as well as excerpts from an expert interview we conducted with Dr Awny Farajallah, Head of U.S. Medical at Bristol Myers Squibb.

Finally, we also highlight some key abstracts to watch out for in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that are expected to be presented at ESMO18 and explore their relevance.

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Fitting it all together – what does the post ASCO Lung Cancer Landscape look like?

It is always a pleasure to talk with experts who have a clear vision of not just what the current treatment landscape looks like, but where the field is going.

Dr Stephen Liu at ASCO18

Dr Stephen Liu is a medical oncologist and assistant professor at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC, where he specializes in thoracic oncology.  He’s also actively involved in clinical trials and developmental therapeutics.

We last interviewed him at ASCO 2016 – you can also hear him on Episode 13 of the Novel Targets Podcast – where he shared his thoughts on some of the early lung cancer immunotherapy combination trials underway.

As regular readers know, we like to follow stories over time and also catch up with thoughtful, intelligent people we’ve talked to in the past whose opinions we value.

Dr Liu kindly shared his highlights of ASCO 2018 in lung cancer, and in a wide ranging discussion, also offered some thoughts on what the future may hold and where we may be going next.

There was a lot to learn from Chicago this year, with plenty of nuances and subtleties to consider. If you read only one post on lung cancer from ASCO18, this interview tells you all you need to know!

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