Biotech Strategy Blog

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

Posts tagged ‘TIGIT’

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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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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You can’t put the genie back in the bottle

Are dark clouds rolling in on TIGIT?

Often times we see a press release for a negative trial – defined here as one which missed its primary endpoint – where the overwhelming temptation is to simply announce the top level findings and be done with it.

I will argue there are valuable lessons to be learned in the process, and sometimes, perhaps realise a different trial design or selection criteria might have led to an entirely different result.

Here is one example I’d like to highlight because phase 3 trials are already underway and there may be insights we can learn from and handicap future larger trial readouts…

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Setting the scene

Can TIGIT stand out from the crowd in gastric cancer?

We have seen all sorts of molecules come along in gastric-esophageal carcinomas, from antibodies, ADCs, bispecifics, small molecules, even CAR-T cell therapies.  Some have been more successful than others.

As the competition heats up even in the expanding number of subniches, it’s going to take some stellar data to stand out from the crowd.

We’ve already seen several miss such as Beigene’s much touted Fc-competent anti-TIGIT antibody ociperlimab in the second line setting at ESMO23 last month, while pembrolizumab continued its onward march at the ESMO Plenary back in February.

Now we have three more earlier stage agents to look at across different modalities such as Akeso’s PD1xCTLA4 bispecific cadonilimab, Keymed/AstraZeneca’s Claudin 18.2 ADC CMG901 and Arcus/Gilead’s anti-TIGIT antibody, domvanalimab.

In our latest review, we take a look at how these agents are doing…

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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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Scaling the ESMO23 ramparts

Scaling the ramparts in Real Madrido

In our last ESMO23 Preview ahead of the live meeting starting on Friday, we highlight another eight targets to watch out for where there will be intriguing data dropping out from Madrid over the weekend.

More than just the data though, is consideration for the implications of the findings and how they can impact a particular tumour landscape.

One thing to note is just because a company highlights what they consider to be positive data doesn’t always mean it is actually so when you look carefully at the small print.

Not surprisingly there are a few examples of this genre at the forthcoming conference…

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Early stage oncology data of interest in TARGETS23 preview

Out with the old, in with the new

We’re reaching a turning point in oncology R&D.

More companies are looking to switch attention from classic, well established targets where there is so much competition it’s hard to differentiate to difficult, even intractable targets with significantly less competition.

To achieve this switch we need to find not only new targets, but also different modalities.

One way to go about bridging this switch is to develop molecular glues.

The magic of chemical induced proximity with this approach means there’s no linkerology involved, simplifying the design somewhat.

Here we look at what some companies are doing in this niche from targets to platforms and collaborations through to exploring what’s coming at the TARGETS meeting in Boston next month. There’s an added bonus included with some unexpected developments…

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Gunning for new targets, new approaches

Gunning for new targets, new modalities, and fresh directions

As we look at various emerging early stage oncology pipelines and think about future rising stars, there are a few which stand out for their sheer depth and breadth.

There are some intriguing similarities between them in they have forged multiple collaborations with selective young biotechs over the last few years rather than rely solely on in-house production.

In our latest review, we look at one of these companies and discuss how the various pillars they have chosen to focus on not only fit together, but also lend themselves to cross modality fusion.

The end result is a vibrant pipeline capable of fueling their life cycle management portfolio for quite a few years to come…

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Exploring unexpected targets in brain tumours

Marooned or heading off somewhere exciting?

As we head into the long August Bank Holiday and Labor Day celebrations, I wanted to offer some stimulating, yet thought provoking topics for readers to consider.

Make no mistake the food for thought ideas described are not lightweight per se, but may offer some useful insights on glioblastoma with implications for exploring future research angles.

There are also two bonuses included: first up is some commentary on TIGIT and lastly, we highlight an impressive new tool that’s available to interested and enlightened companies, which may be of particular interest to our Pharma readers who gather market sentiments.

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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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