2017: Diplomatic immunity

2017 is going to be a big year for pharma, with immunotherapy set to throw the industry under the spotlight – and hopefully, for all the right reasons.

Hailed as a ‘second chance’ for cancer patients, immunotherapy is changing the cancer conversation in a big way. We saw it in 2016, with the mainstream media dedicating plentiful column inches to the ‘miracle drug’, nivolumab.

Already in January the BBC has profiled the case of a young mother, previously given just weeks to live, who had previously been given “weeks or short months” to live after being diagnosed with small cell gastric cancer – which is extremely rare.

However, after initial treatment with Opdivo (nivolumab) the patient showed clear signs that she was responding to immunotherapy – giving way to hope that yet another type of cancer may be treatable using the experimental technique.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is behind Opdivo, and while it seemed to do wonders for the company’s share prices initially, a recent study outcome for the drug sent them plummeting.

The study, named CheckMate-026, lived up to its name and as news of the failed trial emerged sent prices tumbling towards the end of last year.

Nevertheless, the scientific community remains optimistic about the promise of immunotherapy – as does Bristol-Myers Squibb. Already in January, Opdivo has been approved as the first immuno-oncology treatment for head and neck cancer (based on overall survival).

According to Oncology Journal, immunotherapy has so far not been identified as a treatment for solid tumours. Ever-ambitious in its investment, however, BMS announced that 2017 will see a partnership with Janssen which will see the latter firm’s CD38-directed cytolytic antibody Darzale used in combination with Opdivo to target solid tumors with high unmet medical need.

If this partnership proves successful, immuno-oncology will have scaled new heights.

Analysts are reporting that rivals to Opdivo have had chance to “catch up” as a result of the failed CheckMate-026 trial, fuelling the race to win market share in immunotherapies.

Bloomberg reported in January that Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab). Merck itself announced the FDA has accepted its application to combine the drug with chemotherapy.

Approval, which could come as early as May, according to the news agency, would give Merck “free rein in a $10 billion-a-year market for lung cancer patients. Merck's combo could get to market before its competitors even get a chance to disclose their own lung-cancer trial data”.

So the chase is on, and with BMS suffering a heavy blow, and Merck nipping at its heels, who will be first past the post? One thing’s for sure, 2017 promises to be an exciting year to be working in pharma.