«Combination therapies are gaining momentum»

Cancer care has the most clinical trials and continues to attract major investment. What new treatment breakthroughs can we expect? 
Lukas Leu: We don‘t anticipate one big breakthrough by one specific approach; instead, we‘re seeing a process of differentiation across a broad front. As a result, it’s likely that a number of companies will make the leap to commercialization with their products during the next few years. Combination therapies using medicines from different drug classes and targeted therapies are gaining momentum. 

The ASCO Annual Meeting every June is the best barometer of sentiment in cancer research. What are the main takeaways from this year‘s meeting? 
Attendees were meeting in person for the first time since 2019, and that physical presence created a completely different atmosphere compared to the online setting of the last two years. People meet up for coffee away from the presentation space buzz and can share observations, ideas and background information. Ultimately, personal interaction of this kind is also the starting point for a collaboration arrangement or an M&A arrangement. 

Social factors aside, what are your ASCO takeaways? 
Big pharmaceutical and biotech companies generated the most buzz with their presentations. AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo drew a standing ovation for their presentation of pivotal clinical results for Enhertu, their jointly developed antibody drug conjugate (ADC) for breast cancer. Enhertu is likely to generate billions of dollars in revenues for both pharma companies. It will be exciting to see what the industry learns from the Enhertu story and what other ADC developments that leads to. 

Amgen and Mirati’s KRAS inhibitors were another big talking point at ASCO 2022. 
After the conference, it is still unclear how the biotech company Mirati Therapeutics can differentiate its KRAS inhibitor candidate from Amgen‘s Lumakras, which has already been approved to treat lung cancer. An interesting question is how effectively KRAS inhibitors will be able to pass through the bloodbrain barrier and target malignant brain tumors (glioblastoma). Mirati reported initial findings indicating clinical activity for adagrasib, but their significance is not clear yet due to the lack of data. 

Amgen or Mirati – which is the better investment? 
Amgen is an established biotech company with a wide range of products, so you have a diversified investment risk. Mirati, on the other hand, needs to deliver convincing results from the combination study with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors to differentiate meaningfully from Lumakras, or show strong data in combination with an EGFR inhibitor in the treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer. If successful, the prospects of commercial success will increase and so will the likelihood of Mirati becoming a takeover target.