ESMO 2023 preview – a few small molecules

ESMO presentations revealed so far that concern small-molecule approaches are notable for including two projects that recently made waves in phase 3. Merck & Co’s Welireg had a win in a possible label-expanding study, Litespark-005, though it is the phase 2 Litespark-013 trial in kidney cancer that features at ESMO, titles from the meeting’s non-late-breaking presentations reveal. Meanwhile, Olema’s SERD project palazestrant made waves just by going into phase 3, and investors might be keen to see more evidence to back up the logic of this move. More data on Impact’s WEE1 inhibitor IMP7068 might be of interest given that the previous leader in this space, AstraZeneca, has effectively abandoned pursuit of this mechanism of action. And of course KRAS continues to be a major draw. While Amgen and Mirati’s approved therapies battle it out, and Roche makes a valiant effort at catching up, ESMO will see data on somewhat lower-profile KRAS G12C assets, InventisBio’s garsorasib and Jacobio’s glecirasib, the latter as part of a SHP2 combo. Selected ESMO presentations covering small moleculesProjectCompanyMechanismDataAbstractTrotabresib (CC-90010)Bristol Myers SquibbBET inhibitorPh1/2 glioblastoma500OWeliregMerck & CoHIF-2α inhibitorPh2 Litespark-013 RCC1881OTinengotinibTransThera SciencesMulti-kinase inhibitor2L chlangio95MORBS2418RiboscienceENPP1 inhibitorKeytruda combo1025MOIMP7068Impact TherapeuticsWEE1 inhibitorSolid tumours662MONB003Ningbo Newbay TechnologyKIT/PDGFRa inhibitorFIH ph1 GIST1916MOPalazestrantOlemaSERDHER2-ve breast cancer382MOGarsorasib (D-1553)InventisBioKRAS G12C inhibitorErbitux combo in colorectal550OGlecirasib + JAB-3312JacobioKRAS G12C + SHP2 inhibitorKRAS G12C solid tumours653ORMC-6236RevolutionRAS (on) inhibitorKRASm pancreatic adeno & NSCLC652OBelvarafenibRochePan-RAF inhibitorCotellic combo in BRAFm661MOThe 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.