ESMO 2023 preview – conjugates, bispecifics and more
Antibody-drug conjugates look set to have a strong presence at this year’s instalment of ESMO, continuing the industry’s resurgence of this modality after years in relative obscurity. That much is clear from what little is known of the ESMO programme, which so far has revealed only the abstract titles for non-late-breaking presentations. Among ADCs and broadly related approaches there is of course a strong showing from projects that seek either to follow Enhertu with a straight anti-HER2 approach or that take a new twist on the Daiichi Sankyo/AstraZeneca juggernaut, for instance by combining its modality with antagonism against other members of the ErbB family. Among ADCs that, like Gilead’s Trodelvy, target TROP2, Merck & Co/Kelun’s sacituzumab tirumotecan will be closely watched given the promise it showed at ASCO earlier this year. Novel targets will also be on show, with interest undoubtedly being generated by raludotatug deruxtecan, a relatively low-profile member of the Daiichi stable, and Mabwell’s 9MW2821, one of few industry projects against the Nectin-4 antigen that is hit by Seagen’s Padcev.
Selected ESMO abstracts featuring ADCs and related approaches
| Project | Company | Mechanism | Data | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DP303c | CSPC Pharmaceutical | HER2 ADC | HER2+ve solid tumours | 385MO |
| Trastuzumab duocarmazine/ SYD985 | Byondis | HER2 ADC | Ph3 Tulip, HER2+ve breast | 386MO |
| Trastuzumab rezetecan/ SHR-A1811 | Luzsana (Jiangsu HengRui) | HER2 ADC | HER2+ve non-breast tumours | 656MO |
| BDC-1001 | Bolt Biotherapeutics | HER2 conjugate with TLR7/8 agonist | FIH HER2+ve tumours | 657MO |
| Patritumab deruxtecan | Daiichi Sankyo | HER3 ADC | Herthena-Lung01 2L EGFRm NSCLC | 1319MO |
| SHR-A2009 | Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine | HER3 ADC | Solid tumours | 658MO |
| Zenocutuzumab | Merus | HER2 x HER3 bispecific | NRG1+ve NSCLC | 1315MO |
| BL-B01D1 | Sichuan Baili/ Systimmune | EGFR x HER3 bispecific | FIH ph1 | 1316MO |
| MRG003 | Shanghai Miracogen | EGFR ADC | Nasopharyngeal carcinoma | 860MO |
| Pelcitoclax | Ascentage Pharma | BCL-2/BCL-XL inhibitor | Tagrisso combo in EGFRm NSCLC | 1317MO |
| ABBV-637 | AbbVie | EGFR x BCL-XL ADC | Tagrisso combo in EGFRm NSCLC | 1318MO |
| Datopotamab deruxtecan | Daiichi Sankyo/ AstraZeneca | TROP2 ADC | Tropion-Lung05 2L NSCLC | 1314MO |
| Trodelvy | Gilead | TROP2 ADC | Tropics-03 2L SCLC cohort | 1990MO |
| Sacituzumab tirumotecan (SKB264/ MK-2870) | Merck & Co/ Kelun | TROP2 ADC | HER2-ve breast cancer | 380MO |
| HS-20089 | Shanghai Hansoh | B7-H4 ADC | Solid tumours | 381MO |
| SGN-B7H4V | Seagen | B7-H4 ADC | Ph1 | 660MO |
| Raludotatug deruxtecan (DS-6000) | Daiichi Sankyo | CDH6 ADC | FIH ovarian cancer | 745MO |
| 9MW2821 | Mabwell | Nectin-4 ADC | Solid tumours | 659MO |
The ESMO congress takes place in Madrid, Spain on 20-24 October. Full abstract texts will be published on 15 October, with late-breakers going live on 18 October.
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