New class of cancer drugs down, not out, after Roche trial setback - analysts

iTeos Therapeutics

12/05/2022 07:00

(Repeats with no changes to text or headline)
    By Natalie  Grover
    LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - The fresh blow to Roche's  ROG.S 
hopes in a closely watched  class of cancer immunotherapies cast
a long shadow across the crowded field on Wednesday, but the
latest setback is not the end of the road for these oncology
treatments, analysts say.
    Roche said an interim analysis of an ongoing clinical trial
showed that its experimental drug, tiragolumab, failed to 
meaningfully slow disease progression in newly diagnosed
patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in
combination with its approved PD-L1 immunotherapy Tecentriq,
versus Tecentriq alone.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X30BY
    The study will continue to evaluate whether the combination
helps patients live longer, the gold standard for cancer
treatments. 
    The news comes after the Swiss drugmaker disclosed in March
tiragolumab had failed to slow progression of a rarer, more
aggressive form of lung cancer.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VX0RR
    Analysts had assigned a higher likelihood of success to the
NSCLC trial, since it included patients with the most common
form of lung cancer with high levels of PD-L1 proteins targeted
by Tecentriq. 
    This emerging class of so-called anti-TIGIT therapies has
already triggered a flurry of research and deal activity,
including by Gilead Sciences  GILD.O , Merck & Co  MRK.N  and
GSK  GSK.L . Drugmakers are looking to nab a piece of the
lucrative cancer market focused on a protein believed to help
cancer cells thwart immune system detection. 
    Roche shares fell almost 7% on Wednesday for its worst day
since March 2020, and took shares of its rivals in the field
down with it.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2X32MW
    "We see this failure as bad for the sector in general,"
Truist Securities analyst Robyn Karnauskas wrote in a note,
cautioning that final trial data are still to come. Roche is
expected to provide fresh data from the study next year.
    But she noted that for many immuno-oncology studies, much of
the difference in results has been seen in overall survival
benefit, rather than keeping the disease from worsening, known
as progression-free survival. 
    The global cancer drug market is expected to balloon to $272
billion by 2030 from $136.2 billion in 2020, according to
estimates from Precedence Research.  
    Chemotherapy and other targeted medicines are commonly used
to bolster the effects of immunotherapies, such as the
established PD-L1 and PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors such as Merck's
top-selling Keytruda. The fresh hope is that targeting two
checkpoint proteins - TIGIT and PD-L1/PD-1 - will better treat a
broader set of patients.
    The Roche news follows the sting of a string of prominent
immunotherapy combination failures in recent years.
    RBC Capital Markets' analyst Brian Abrahams said any benefit
of TIGIT co-administration could take longer to play out, which
is not uncommon with immuno-oncology therapies.
    The disappointing result from the Roche trial is likely to
cast doubt on whether the TIGIT class has additive efficacy in
oncology, but clearer benefits could be achieved with a
different drug/construct, he added.  
    The setback on Wednesday could also be linked to the way
Roche designed a statistical plan for the trial, analysts
cautioned, suggesting that the study still had a chance of
eventually demonstrating positive results.
    Evercore ISI analysts put out a note on Wednesday headlined:
"I do NOT think TIGIT failed."
     

 (Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Twitter @NatalieGrover;
Editing by Josephine Mason and Bill Berkrot)
 ((natalie.grover@thomsonreuters.com;))