This is one very large, fragile and complex molecule — so big, in fact, that PubChem’s software cannot offer a 3D version, as it bends too much. [Just look at the small-scale flat long chain strand in red and blue at right (the only way to fit it on the screen is… “tiny”); that’s a big honking molecule!]
Thus, while it is technically in the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) classes, no one should draw any inference about ADCs, more generally — there are (by far!) just way too many moving parts, here.
And so, Merck’s efforts (and big ticket spending) on ADCs will move forward, and will likely see other successes — and even Gilead’s sacituzumab govitecan (the chemical name for Trodelvy®) is doing well, in certain breast cancers, and is running other trials in head and neck cancers.
Here’s a fine analysis — as ever — from FiercePharma, and a bit of it:
…The company’s phase 3 EVOKE-1 trial showed that Trodelvy didn’t significantly extend the lives of patients with previously treated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) when pitted against the chemotherapy docetaxel. With that, the trial failed to meet its primary endpoint, Gilead said Monday.
Despite the fail, the “totality of our data” gives the company “continued confidence” in Trodelvy’s potential in the population, chief medical officer Merdad Parsey, M.D., Ph.D. said in the company’s press release….
…[T]he NSCLC miss could spell trouble for Trodelvy. As it stands, the ADC’s breast cancer market share is limited to previously treated HR-positive, HER2-negative as well as triple-negative breast cancer. But Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca’s rival HER2-directed ADC Enhertu and its groundbreaking approval in new breast cancer category HER2-low puts pressure on Gilead’s offering….
Onward, smiling — but Merck’s Daiichi Sankyo ADC deal looks… pretty smart here (again!). Grin.
नमस्ते
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