Lung cancer
The Phase 3 results are the first direct proof-of-concept for an ADC replacing platinum-based chemo in a first-line standard-of-care regimen for non-small cell lung cancer, according to Leerink Partners. The readout also represents the second late-stage win for the Merck and Kelun-Biotech asset, called sac-TMT.
Just weeks after Pfizer’s Seagen-acquired antibody-drug conjugate sigvotatug vedotin failed a Phase 3 non-small cell lung cancer study, the big pharma has quietly culled another program being developed by the ADC specialist.
Dizal Pharmaceutical’s Zegfrovy is approved in the U.S. for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. For $600 million upfront, AstraZeneca will gain global rights to advance and commercialize the asset.
GSK and Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s antibody-drug conjugate success validates their partnership, one of the many deals in which Big Pharma has tapped a China company for promising cancer candidates.
Many of the FDA’s decisions this quarter involve applications that have previously been delayed, declined or outright rejected, including one for an mRNA vaccine that became the center of controversy earlier this year.
Despite an overall survival miss, Leerink Partners said Pfizer’s antibody-drug conjugate showed “promising” signals of efficacy in a subgroup of patients who had undergone only one prior line of treatment.
While Merck and Gilead Sciences reported back-to-back late-stage victories for their weekly HIV pill, the partners also discontinued a Phase 3 program for their cancer combo after disappointing lung cancer survival data.
Revolution Medicines stole the show at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting as full data from its pancreatic cancer drug lived up to expectations, while Summit and Akeso proved the PD-(L)1/VEGF mechanism and Eli Lilly showed that its in vivo CAR T bet is paying off.
“King Keytruda’s reign continues,” analysts at BMO Capital Markets declared after Chinese data for Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab were revealed at the American Society for Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
Interim overall survival data on a TROP2 ADC from Merck and Chinese partner Kelun-Biotech provide support for the pharma’s big bet on its potential to help navigate Keytruda’s impending loss of exclusivity.
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