EQRx Aims To Dent Saturated, But Still Expensive, PD-1 Market

EQRx, Inc. has scored a trophy in its hunt for me-too drugs that can enter the market at a lower price with positive results from a Phase III study of the PD-1 inhibitor sugemalimab, developed by China-based CStone Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.. It’s just the latest example of how firms in China are partnering with overseas counterparts to market homegrown checkpoint inhibitors in more lucrative Western markets.

CStone announced topline results from the Phase III GEMSTONE-301 study on 27 May, in patients with Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without disease progression after concurrent or sequential chemoradiotherapy. The company described the drug as the first antibody against PD-1 or PD-L1 that covers both Stage III and Stage IV NSCLC patients