Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘Regeneron’

Who is winning the CD20xCD3 Bispecific Race to Market?

Virtual meetings mean we miss the fun of German pop-up sausage stands and focus solely on the new emerging clinical data!

EHA25 Virtual, Not-In-Frankfurt – There’s a lot of commercial interest in CD20 x CD3 bispecifics, and in this post we’re taking a look at some of the latest clinical data presented at recent ASCO and EHA virtual meetings. Companies mentioned include Regeneron, Roche/Genentech, Genmab/Abbvie, Xencor, and IGM Biosciences.

Any analysis of a rapidly evolving and fast-moving landscape only represents a snapshot in time at the point it was taken, and this post is not intended to be a comprehensive landscape report, you’d pay a lot more than a yearly sub to BSB for that, but we’ve been following the field, and there are some trends emerging.

What makes it interesting is there is some nuance required in the interpretation of data, and with that in mind we spoke to an investigator at the forefront of clinical research who has done trials with several of the CD20 x CD3 bispecifics in development; the insights were quite illuminating.

This post offers an update on the CD20 bispecific landscape, analysis of some of the recent data at EHA and ASCO, as well as expert opinion, what more could you ask for?

To read our latest expert interview, and gain insights from our oncology analysis and commentary around data emerging from the ASCO and EHA virtual meetings, subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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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?

To learn more from our oncology analysis and get a heads up on insights and commentary emerging from the ASCO meeting, subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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JPM20 Highlights from Day 1

San Francisco – This week is mostly about business news as pharma and biotech companies congregate around the JP Morgan Healthcare conference.

It’s JPM time!

As of today (January 13th) I think a lot of investor and journalistic observers have probably been rather disappointed with no news of any major M&A activity, as this seen as setting the tone for the year ahead. I don’t personally see things that way because there’s always plenty of interesting small deals, new early funding, new science and even newco’s forming.

Indeed, Allogene already announced a new clinical collaboration with SpringWorks Therapeutics to evaluate their investigational anti-BCMA allogeneic CAR-T cell wherapy with their gamma secretase inhibitor in multiple myeloma.  They clearly see this as one way to address the shedding problems that have led to relapse with BCMA therapies.

As in previous years, we have a rolling live blog each day at JPM to highlight some of the scientific and company findings that emerge during the meeting…

To learn more from our oncology coverage and get a heads up on our latest insights from the JPM annual meeting, subscribers can log-in or you can click to gain access to BSB Premium Content.

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Where’s the next exciting IO target coming from?

Following the success of anti-CTLA4 and PD(L)1 therapies over the last five years or so, there is much time and attention being focused on addressing a key question, namely – what’s the next viable checkpoint target?

There are quite a few possibilities emerging, although to be fair, some of them will no doubt go by the wayside over the next year or two.  There has already been quite a bit of attrition since 2015/16.  Figuring out which ones will be a target versus being a useful marker is also an important aspect of new product development.

Competition is a fine thing – as long as they’re going in the direction you want to go.

For most of our ASCO coverage over the last few years we have tended to include a variety of approaches in the pre-conference Preview series that can run from a tumour type, a up and coming modality, an emerging target, and various other ways of looking at or making sense of the sea of data.

Here, we take a look at an IO target that is receiving much interest and explore what we know and where this might be headed… and ask whether the early promise is living up to the billing in practice?

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5 key abstracts to consider from ASCO 2017

As we all wearily trawl through the huge mountain of data for ASCO 2017, what stands out – and more importantly – what matters and why?

Before we get into our in-depth coverage based on the tumour type, target and modality landscapes, I wanted to take a moment to highlight five key abstracts that stood out for me as worthy of checking out in more detail once we get to Chicago.

Interestingly, only one of them is from big Pharma!

At least one had some negatives associated with it as we’re not all happy clappy everything is great enthusiasts here at BSB.  We do try to be fair minded and objective as possible about data.

So what’s in store and why do these five matter?

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New developments in allogeneic cellular therapies

HMS VictoryThe dog days of summer are usually quiet on the Pharmaland front, although this year has been a bit of an exception, being notable for a batch of deals being completed and announced already.

The cell therapy space is one area that has courted both controversy and new collaborations, for example. Nary a week seems to pass without something appearing in the news! This has proven pretty interesting for a number of subscribers, who write in asking plenty of astute questions.

Today’s questions from BSB readers therefore encompass allogeneic cell therapies and what’s going on in that fast moving dynamic space.  Not all of the announcements may be what they seem though, and some are much more riskier than others.

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ASCO 2016 Sunday Blog #ASCO16

View from ASCO annual meetingChicago – it’s “Plenary Sunday” at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Cancer immunotherapy has arrived at ASCO! Not so long ago cancer immunotherapy presentations were in small meeting rooms and had only a few attendees – at this meeting cancer immunotherapy data is being presented to thousands of attendees in large meetings rooms, including the B1 plenary hall. What a difference in the space of a few years!

Today at ASCO there are several noteworthy cancer immunotherapy presentations. We’ll be writing about them here on the blog during the day.

Part of the opportunity of coming to a meeting such as ASCO is the networking opportunities it affords.

While in Chicago I heard about a phase 3 trial from a global pharma company that failed to meet its primary endpoint last year, however, – to the best of my knowledge – there’s been no publication or presentation of the negative data that may help the field move forward. The investigators have been told “it’s a bust.”

Not to publish or present negative data is a disservice to the patients that enrolled on the trial. Many would have believed their participation would contribute to the advancement of science and medicine, and potentially benefit others.

Want to know what the trial is and the company involved? Subscribers can login to find more or you can purchase access to read more, along with our coverage of Sunday at ASCO 2016.

Update 12.30pm. Occasionally we decide something we talk about needs to be “open access” so we’ve published a short post. It is freely available to all. Turns out the negative data from BMS was mentioned in a July 23, 2015 financial results press release. Almost a year later, the negative data has still not been presented or published.

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ASCO 2016 Preview 1 – Novel Combination Approaches

For years we’ve followed the trials and tribulations of targeted therapies seeing many approved and quite a few disappear forlornly (and officially) off to dog drug heaven. Many more sit in no-man’s land as companies eagerly wait in a holding pattern for other trial readouts in different tumour types. Sadly, sometimes these studies don’t generate enough compelling data either. With so much competition about, there are no shortcuts or low-hanging fruit in biotech or cancer drug development any more.

ASCO16 Chicago 1

En route to Chicago and ASCO!

Then along came antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), with some encouraging results in a range of cancers in both solid tumours and hematologic malignancies that lead to the approval of several new therapies.

After that, the next big advance was immunotherapies, specifically checkpoint blockade, with encouraging single agent activity in melanoma, lung, and even urothelial bladder cancer. We’ve also seen the promise fo combining two different checkpoints such as nivolumab and ipilimumab together in metastatic melanoma, albeit with an increase in toxicities.

This is all very well and good, although the challenge remains that the majority of patients either respond to therapy and relapse, or do not respond at all, depending on the circumstances, the tumour type and the regimen. We still have a long way to go in moving the needle and creating a new paradigm shift on a broad scale.

So what happens when we start to combine modalities – such as targeted therapies with immunotherapies?

Uh-oh, I hear the distant cries of disagreement erupt…

  • Remember vemurafenib plus ipilimumab in metastatic melanoma was scuppered by severe hepatitis?
  • What about osimertinib plus durvalumab in NSCLC and the increased incidence of ILD?

Both of these statements are true, and yet… we should not assume that all mixed therapy combination approaches are doomed on the basis of a mere n of 2. What happens if some are synergistic or additive? What happens of there are hidden gems that teach us new ways of doing things rather than doing the same old thing just because it’s always been done that way?

With this in mind, I’d like to open the door on our first ASCO 2016 Preview series with a look at novel combination approaches in development that caught my eye.

What are the early hints and signals that we can learn from the data? Which companies are evaluating imaginative new ideas that may turn the tables on traditional thinking?  The ideas discussed here may well surprise a few people.

To learn more, Subscribers can log-in below or you sign up for a subscription and join the ever burgeoning BSB club of sophisticated lay people – including investors and commercial/new product development people – who can really understand and appreciate the fundamentals of cancer R&D…

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AACR 2016 A Preview of anti TIM-3 and LAG-3 Checkpoints

Iwakuni Bridge

Cherry Blossoms and Iwakuni Bridge

We’re continuing our countdown to the 2016 AACR annual meeting in New Orleans with a look at anti TIM-3 and LAG-3 inhibitory checkpoints and highlighting some of the companies with noteworthy abstracts.

In case you missed it, yesterday AACR announced that Vice President Biden will be delivering remarks on the final day of the meeting, Wednesday, April 20th in the “Highlights 2016: Vision for the Future” Plenary Session. As conference diehards, we will be there in person, but AACR have announced they plan to livestream it to the world. It’s a fitting finale to what is set to be a “must attend” meeting for those with an interest in cancer new product development and in particular, cancer immunotherapy.

What can we learn from AACR abstracts on TIM–3 and LAG–3?

There is some early clinical data that we will be checking out (no pun intended) on TIM-3 and LAG-3.

Subscribers can read Day 2 of our “Road to AACR 2016” coverage by logging in, or you can purchase access.

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What’s hot at ARVO 2011?

By on April 27, 2011

This weekend I will be at the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Fort Lauderdale.

I’m excited about attending because earlier in my career I worked at Alcon Laboratories on European IDE clinical trials for three novel intra-ocular lenses.

ARVO is the ophthalmology equivalent of AACR and is where scientists involved in drug, device research meet to discuss new findings and early stage research.

The title of meeting is “Visionary Genomics.”  After listening to the plenary session at the recent AACR annual meeting by Lynda Chin on how insights from cancer genomics are translating into personalized medicine, I’m looking forward to seeing the impact of genomics on vision research.

Sunday’s ARVO/Alcon keynote presentation is from Roderick McInnes who is the Canada Research Chair in Neurogenetics at McGill University in Montreal.

A presentation that is already generating some advance interest is Sunday’s presentation of the results from the Comparison of Age Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in those over 65 in the United States, with over 7 million people estimated to be at risk.  Once you have AMD in one eye, you have a 43% risk of developing it in the other eye over a  five year period, a scary statistic!

The first CATT clinical trial is between bevacizumab (Avastin®) and ranibizumab (Lucentis®), both similar anti-VEGF inhibitors that are derived from the same monoclonal antibody.  It will be interesting to see whether the data supports the current practice of off-label use of bevacizumab given its lower cost compared to ranibizumab.

The findings from this data will also potentially impact aflibercept (VEGF-Trap) that is being co-developed by Bayer and Regeneron.  In February, Regeneron submitted a biologics license application (BLA) to the FDA for the use of VEGF-Trap in wet AMD.

The initial results from the aflibercept phase III AMD trial announced late last year showed a non-inferiority to ranibizumab.  If aflibercept is approved and comes to market in 2012, depending on the CATT results, it may have to compete on price against off-label bevacizumab in AMD.  Whether a more convenient injection once every two months for VEGF-Trap (compared to monthly for Lucentis) is sufficient to justify a price premium, it will be interesting to watch the market dynamics in this space.

You can find more about the meeting on the ARVO conference website and they have also put up a blog for the meeting.   The theme of my blog posts over the next few days will be ophthalmology related, and I expect to be live tweeting from ARVO 2011 on Sunday and Monday.  I’ll also be aggregating tweets from the meeting (hashtag #ARVO11) on this blog.

 

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