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Novartis/BeiGene Likely To Struggle In Crowded PD-1 Space Despite Positive First-Line Data

 
• By Alaric DeArment

Merck’s Keytruda and BMS’s Opdivo could be tough competitors in esophageal cancer, but the Novartis/BeiGene partnership also has an anti-TIGIT drug up its sleeve.

Snails on the athletic track moves the finish line (By Sergey Lavrentev. Shutterstock 463225937)
Novartis/BeiGene face tough competition in esophageal cancer despite positive data for tislelizumab • Source: Shutterstock

Novartis AG and BeiGene, Ltd. have positive Phase III results for the PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab in first-line esophageal cancer that come as the US Food and Drug Administration action date for the drug in second-line disease approaches. While the agency’s nod would mark a significant milestone, making tislelizumab the first Chinese-developed checkpoint inhibitor to receive FDA approval, the drug could struggle in a crowded US market, including in the first-line setting.

Tislelizumab will also be Novartis' first checkpoint inhibitor. Even though Novartis has been an industry leader in oncology, the company...

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• By Alaric DeArment

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Merus Raises $300m After ASCO Success

 
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• By Alaric DeArment

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• By Joseph Haas

BMS is guaranteeing BioNTech at least $3.5bn to share development costs and potential profits on the Phase III bispecific, to compete with Summit, Merck and Pfizer.

More from Anticancer

Degron Eyes Deals For Novel Molecular Glue Degrader Assets

 
• By Dexter Jie Yan

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