The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended marketing authorization for Gilead Sciences’ Trodelvy in combination with Merck’s Keytruda for adults with previously untreated, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score of at least 10. The positive opinion is based on the Phase 3 ASCENT-04/KEYNOTE-D19 study, which showed a 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death versus standard chemotherapy plus Keytruda. If approved by the European Commission later in 2026, the combination would build on the recent EU approval of Trodelvy monotherapy in the same setting, establishing a Trodelvy-based backbone across PD-L1 status. Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive disease with poor prognosis, and about 40% of tumors are PD-L1 positive. Gilead noted that Trodelvy is the only Trop-2-directed antibody-drug conjugate to show a meaningful overall survival benefit in two distinct types of metastatic breast cancer.
Genmab Reports Phase 3 Win for Epcoritamab and Phase 1/2 Data for Rina S
Genmab posted two fresh oncology trial readouts, including a Phase 3 win for epcoritamab in newly diagnosed diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The EPCORE DLBCL 2 trial, run with AbbVie, reported that epcoritamab plus R CHOP cut the risk of disease progression or death by 51% versus R CHOP alone in patients with higher risk DLBCL. Separately, the Phase 1/2 RAINFOL 01 study of rinatabartsesutecan, or Rina S, in platinum resistant ovarian cancer reported a 45.9% confirmed objective response rate in a heavily pretreated population, with a median duration of response of 12.1 months and no clear safety signals around eye toxicity, peripheral neuropathy, interstitial lung disease or stomatitis. The trial headlines arrive after a strong run in the shares, with the DKK2,482.0 price coming alongside a 31.18% 90 day share price return and a 23.67% year to date share price return, while the 5 year total shareholder return is down 8.75%.
Summit Therapeutics, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo to Study Ivonescimab Plus Datroway Combos
Summit Therapeutics has signed a clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca and its Japan-based partner Daiichi Sankyo to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with the antibody-drug conjugate Datroway, also known as datopotamab deruxtecan, across multiple solid tumors including breast and lung cancers. The collaboration is expected to initially focus on a phase III study in first-line triple-negative breast cancer, expanding ivonescimab's development into a new tumor type. Under the agreement, each company will supply its respective drug, AstraZeneca or Daiichi will sponsor the planned studies, and the companies will share study costs while retaining development and commercial rights to their own therapies. The Datroway collaboration builds on the larger deal between AstraZeneca and Summit announced in the last week, under which AstraZeneca agreed to invest $2 billion in Summit to accelerate development of ivonescimab, with the companies also set to evaluate ivonescimab alongside AstraZeneca's investigational Claudin-18.2-targeted ADC sonesitatug vedotin, or Sone-Ve, in gastrointestinal cancers. An FDA filing is under review seeking approval for ivonescimab plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who had progressed following EGFR-TKI treatment, with a final decision expected by Nov. 14, 2026.
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Oncology Therapeutics ▲Capital
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Immuno-Oncology / Checkpoint ▲Capital
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) ▲Capital
4568.JP · Technology · Positive Daiichi Sankyo's Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan) will be evaluated in combination with ivonescimab across multiple solid tumors, including a phase III triple-negative breast cancer study
AZN.LSE · Technology · Positive AstraZeneca will co-sponsor and supply its Datroway ADC in a new phase III combination study with ivonescimab, expanding its oncology pipeline
AstraZeneca Closes $2 Billion Equity Investment in Summit Therapeutics
Summit Therapeutics announced the closing of AstraZeneca's $2.0 billion strategic equity investment in the company. Under the Securities Purchase Agreement, AstraZeneca purchased approximately 108,955 shares of preferred stock convertible into Summit common stock at a 1:1,000 ratio, representing a common stock price of $18.36, a premium over the closing trading price on the day the investment was announced. The proceeds will support accelerated development of ivonescimab, a potential first-in-class investigational PD-1 / VEGF bispecific antibody, across solid tumor settings including combinations with antibody drug conjugates such as sonesitatug vedotin and Datroway. Summit Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer Robert W. Duggan said the investment reflects AstraZeneca's confidence in Summit and in ivonescimab's potential to redefine cancer treatment. Baker Hostetler LLP is serving as legal advisor to Summit.
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Oncology Therapeutics ▲Capital
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Immuno-Oncology / Checkpoint ▲Capital
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) ▲Capital
AZN.LSE · Capital · Positive AstraZeneca closed a $2.0 billion strategic equity investment in Summit Therapeutics, a major financing/M&A event for AstraZeneca.
Genmab's Rina-S Shows 45.9% Response Rate in Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
Genmab A/S announced that its investigational antibody-drug conjugate rinatabart sesutecan, known as Rina-S, achieved a confirmed objective response rate of 45.9% among 109 treated patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in Part C of the Phase 1/2 RAINFOL-01 trial. The results, presented in a Late-Breaking Oral Session at the International Gynecologic Cancer Society Congress 2026 in Montreal, Canada, included five complete responses and a median duration of response of 12.1 months, with 51% of responders still in response at one year. The study also reported a median progression-free survival of 9.5 months, and antitumor activity was observed regardless of folate receptor alpha expression levels, including in patients with low expression and non-expressors, and regardless of prior treatment with mirvetuximab. More than half of patients, 53%, had received three or four prior lines of therapy, all had received prior bevacizumab and taxane therapy, 49.5% had received a prior PARP inhibitor, and 33% had received prior mirvetuximab soravtansine. The most common treatment-emergent adverse events were fatigue at 57.8% and low-grade gastrointestinal events including nausea at 67.9%, while serious adverse events were reported in approximately one-third of participants and treatment discontinuation due to adverse events occurred in 5.5%. Rina-S is being evaluated across four Phase 3 trials in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer maintenance, and second-line platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, plus additional Phase 1/2 and Phase 2 studies.
AstraZeneca Wins FDA Priority Review for IMFINZI in Bladder Cancer
AstraZeneca said the FDA has granted Priority Review to a supplemental Biologics License Application for IMFINZI with enfortumab vedotin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The application targets patients who are ineligible for or decline cisplatin-based chemotherapy, a group with limited treatment choices. Priority Review shortens the FDA review timeline for this regimen, reflecting the agency's view that it may offer a meaningful clinical advance. AstraZeneca, a £192.8 billion pharmaceuticals group focused on prescription medicines, has been building its oncology presence across several tumour types, so any potential label expansion for IMFINZI touches a core therapy area rather than a side project for the business.
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Oncology Therapeutics ▲Regulation
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Immuno-Oncology / Checkpoint ▲Regulation
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) ▲Regulation
AZN.LSE · Regulation · Positive FDA granted Priority Review to AstraZeneca's IMFINZI/enfortumab vedotin application for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a regulatory milestone that could expand the label.
AstraZeneca Files FDA New Drug Application for ORPATHYS and TAGRISSO in Advanced Lung Cancer
AstraZeneca has filed a New Drug Application with the US FDA for combining ORPATHYS and TAGRISSO in a specific form of advanced non small cell lung cancer after EGFR TKI treatment. The filing comes as the company's shares have fallen 10.29% over 90 days and 8.56% year to date, though the 1 year total shareholder return of 13.04% and 5 year total shareholder return of 55.73% remain positive. The most followed analyst narrative puts fair value at £159.11 against a last close of £124.28, implying 22% undervaluation, with 206 investors backing that view. Management estimates its late-stage pipeline across oncology, rare diseases, and cardiovascular and metabolic therapies could generate $10+ billion in peak risk-adjusted revenue. Risks to the rerating include tighter drug pricing regimes in key markets and heavier pressure on blockbuster franchises as competition builds.
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Oncology Therapeutics ▲Regulation
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) ▲Regulation
Biotech & Genomic Medicine › Immuno-Oncology / Checkpoint Regulation
AZN.LSE · Regulation · Positive AstraZeneca filed an FDA New Drug Application for the ORPATHYS plus TAGRISSO combination in advanced EGFR TKI-treated NSCLC, a regulatory milestone advancing its oncology pipeline.