Akeso's lung cancer drug ivonescimab cut the risk of death by 34% in a phase 3 trial for non-small cell lung cancer conducted in China, the company announced yesterday [1, 2].
The two-year survival rate was 64.7% for patients treated with ivonescimab, compared with 48.6% for those in the control group [1]. When combined with chemotherapy, ivonescimab extended median survival by four months over standard immunotherapy plus chemotherapy in squamous non-small-cell lung cancer patients [2].
Ivonescimab is a bispecific antibody that targets PD-1 and VEGF, mechanisms involved in tumor growth and immune response [2]. Analysts expect the drug could become a backbone therapy in the estimated US$20 billion global non-small cell lung cancer market [1].
The phase 3 trial was conducted exclusively in China, and a global phase 3 trial is ongoing to confirm results beyond the Chinese patient population [2]. Dr. Suresh Ramalingam commented, "The fact that it shows an improvement in overall survival in a difficult-to-treat patient population is very encouraging. I'm mindful of the fact that this trial was done exclusively in China, and that brings up the question of how do these data apply to patient populations outside of China, and that will require future investigations" [2].
Akeso filed the trial data with the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 1, after results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on May 31 [1, 2]. Despite the positive data, Akeso’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 1.86%, closing at HK$115.9 [1]. Meanwhile, shares of Summit Therapeutics, the U.S. licensee of ivonescimab outside China, surged nearly 600% over two years but have recently declined amid concerns over the drug's effectiveness globally [2].
