ESMO 2023 preview – conjugates, bispecifics and more

Antibody-drug conjugates look set to have a strong presence at this year’s instalment of ESMO, continuing the industry’s resurgence of this modality after years in relative obscurity. That much is clear from what little is known of the ESMO programme, which so far has revealed only the abstract titles for non-late-breaking presentations. Among ADCs and broadly related approaches there is of course a strong showing from projects that seek either to follow Enhertu with a straight anti-HER2 approach or that take a new twist on the Daiichi Sankyo/AstraZeneca juggernaut, for instance by combining its modality with antagonism against other members of the ErbB family. Among ADCs that, like Gilead’s Trodelvy, target TROP2, Merck & Co/Kelun’s sacituzumab tirumotecan will be closely watched given the promise it showed at ASCO earlier this year. Novel targets will also be on show, with interest undoubtedly being generated by raludotatug deruxtecan, a relatively low-profile member of the Daiichi stable, and Mabwell’s 9MW2821, one of few industry projects against the Nectin-4 antigen that is hit by Seagen’s Padcev.Selected ESMO abstracts featuring ADCs and related approachesProjectCompanyMechanismDataAbstractDP303cCSPC PharmaceuticalHER2 ADCHER2+ve solid tumours385MOTrastuzumab duocarmazine/ SYD985ByondisHER2 ADCPh3 Tulip, HER2+ve breast386MOTrastuzumab rezetecan/ SHR-A1811Luzsana (Jiangsu HengRui)HER2 ADCHER2+ve non-breast tumours656MOBDC-1001Bolt BiotherapeuticsHER2 conjugate with TLR7/8 agonistFIH HER2+ve tumours657MOPatritumab deruxtecanDaiichi SankyoHER3 ADCHerthena-Lung01 2L EGFRm NSCLC1319MOSHR-A2009Jiangsu Hengrui MedicineHER3 ADCSolid tumours658MOZenocutuzumabMerusHER2 x HER3 bispecificNRG1+ve NSCLC1315MOBL-B01D1Sichuan Baili/ SystimmuneEGFR x HER3 bispecificFIH ph11316MOMRG003Shanghai MiracogenEGFR ADCNasopharyngeal carcinoma860MOPelcitoclaxAscentage PharmaBCL-2/BCL-XL inhibitorTagrisso combo in EGFRm NSCLC1317MOABBV-637AbbVieEGFR x BCL-XL ADCTagrisso combo in EGFRm NSCLC1318MODatopotamab deruxtecanDaiichi Sankyo/ AstraZenecaTROP2 ADCTropion-Lung05 2L NSCLC1314MOTrodelvyGileadTROP2 ADCTropics-03 2L SCLC cohort1990MOSacituzumab tirumotecan (SKB264/ MK-2870)Merck & Co/ KelunTROP2 ADCHER2-ve breast cancer380MOHS-20089Shanghai HansohB7-H4 ADCSolid tumours381MOSGN-B7H4VSeagenB7-H4 ADCPh1660MORaludotatug deruxtecan (DS-6000)Daiichi SankyoCDH6 ADCFIH ovarian cancer745MO9MW2821MabwellNectin-4 ADCSolid tumours659MOThe ESMO congress takes place in Madrid, Spain on 20-24 October. Full abstract texts will be published on 15 October, with late-breakers going live on 18 October.