ASCO - 2020 review:Despite going virtual due to the COVID-19...

ASCO - 2020 review:

Despite going virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer Harris, an immuno-oncology expert from Syneos Health told pharmaphorum’s Richard Staines that the 2020 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting was full of groundbreaking research, as pharma finds new ways to harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer.

"It’s almost a decade since Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) ushered in the cancer immunotherapy revolution with the first approval of Yervoy (ipilimumab) in melanoma.
Since then, BMS and rivals, such as Merck & Co and Roche, have redefined care standards in both solid and blood cancers, and this year’s ASCO showed how industry is refining treatment with existing therapies, as well as finding new ways to unleash the power of the immune system against cancer.

Last years ASCO 'darling' was TIGIT (several clinical trials in progress and appears to work moderately well in patients with high PD1 expression (over 50%).

This years ASCO 'darling' will be Lag 3 (BMS - Relatimab P3 statistically meaningful 50% PFS improvement over SOC).
Efti works well (synergistic) with PD1 drugs regardless of PD1 expression, thereby significantly increasing potential patient market for Keytruda and Opdivo in multiple first line settings.

'TACTI-002' and 'Insight-04' (Ahjay made a good observation today - see latest announcement and extended collaboration with Merck (Germany)), new mature data from these trials plus BMS anti-Lag3 data may just be the catalysts for big pharma(s) to make a serious move?....