Esmo 2022 preview – front-line liver cancer showdown

As Esmo yesterday briefly published the titles of late-breaking abstracts (most were gone this morning), investors have their first clues about what to expect at the oncology conference, which starts in Paris on September 9. One of the highlights will be a trio of pivotal studies of anti-PD-1 MAbs in first-line hepatocellular cancer: Keytruda’s Leap-002, known to have failed, camrelizumab’s SHR-1210-III-310, toplined positive, and tislelizumab’s Rationale-301, said to show non-inferiority versus Nexavar. Biotech watchers have key presentations on Relay’s RLY-4008 – look out for toxicities – Biontech’s BNT211 and Springworks’ nirogacestat, not to mention Padcev’s EV-103 cohort K, seen by some as smoothing the way to Seagen’s takeover by Merck & Co. Also closely watched will be colorectal cancer data from Mirati’s adagrasib, though a path for filing here has yet to be outlined, and of more immediate importance is the accelerated application for NSCLC, given upcoming release of confirmatory data on Amgen’s competitor, Lumakras. Major failed studies being highlighted include Roche’s Immotion-010 and Sanofi’s Ameera-3; The French group recently discontinued amcenestrant on the basis of Ameera-3 and 5. With Gilead’s Tropics-02 set to be one of the most picked-apart datasets Esmo is shaping up to be full of catalysts.