Could be a double whammy for Merck. The worlds best selling medicines patents are not only due to expire in 2028, it also has some competition. Akeso is a PD-1 inhibitor, its also in the same drug class as Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdiva. I mentioned Opdivo a few post back. Opdivo has seen impressive growth in the last few years, with sales up by 9% in 2023 and sales are predicted to reach $11.75 billion by 2026. Opdivo's patent's also expiring in 2028.
Akeso will still have to run trials in the US, to date it's trials have been run solely in China. The director of the FDA'S Oncology Center of Excellence Richard Pazdur has come out at ASCO 2024 and said the agency doesn’t want drug makers applying for approval with data from trials solely run in a single country such as China, but instead wants to see companies conducting studies across the world. Going off this, it might be a savvy decision to open up a trial site in Australia for CHM 2101.
BMS looks like another obvious candidate looking for acquisitions. They bought Celgene in 2019 for $74 billion, Out of that acquisition Revlimid another cancer drug that has already expired. They also have key patents expiring for another blockbuster Eliquis in 2027-2029. Eliquis has become one of the most effective treatment options for DVT and PE.
BMS also owns Breyanzi (first quarter net sales $107 million) which to date is losing market share to Gilead's Yescarta (first quarter net sales $380 million) and Novartis Kymriah (first quarter net sales $120 million). BMS's other approved Car-T Abcema (first quarter net sales $82 million) is losing market share to J & J's Carvykti (first quarter net sales $157 million).
BMS seem committed to cell therapy though recently inking a deal to the tune of $380 million with Cellares to assist on the manufacturing front.
In-regards to Chimeric, I was under the impression Jennifer was most excited about CDH 17 but I never spoke to her personally so you might be right. Jason seemed enthused by its potential in the December webinar saying it had the potential to be "practice changing."
I agree with how you're thinking. Also the major hurdles continue to remain for current Car-T approved treatments, manufacturing and cost. Our CORE-NK cell treatment might be able to address both.
As of next week, we can treat our final 2 patients in the staggering process and then we'll be able dose freely. I'd imagine a safety profile would be required to initiate some sort of a deal. The first 6 patients aren't being treated in the frontline and the pre-clinical data showed that's where the most significant improvement was shown. Hopefully we get some early signs.
Here's an interesting article as to where the current market stands. Looks to me like the technology needs to catch up with the industry. First generation struggling to make inroads and some turning away to autoimmune disease. The initial 6 FDA approved Car-T therapies haven't knocked the ball out of the park financially, apart from Yescarta.
I'm seeing a lot of activity on the manufacturing front so I'm hoping by the time CHM 2101's data starts to roll out, this issue starts to get addressed. Car-T therapy is still very much at its infancy
I've asked the company how does CDH17 compare in the complexities of manufacturing compared to CD 19 and I was told it's easier, I believe cheaper also but don't hold me to that. I believe it'll respond to more patients also because it won't kill the healthy B cells. In my opinion 2 massive ticks. Who knows, if all goes well with trial progression, it could be very fortuitous timing.
(20min delay)