U.S. FDA Granted Priority Review to Dizal’s Sunvozertinib New Drug Application

On January 7, 2025 Dizal (SSE:688192), a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing novel medicines for the treatment of cancer and immunological diseases, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted priority review to the company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for sunvozertinib, an oral EGFR inhibitor for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations (exon20ins), as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy (Press release, Dizal Pharma, JAN 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234649481]).

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The FDA grants priority review to drugs that, if approved, would be significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness over existing treatment for a serious disease. This decision follows the FDA’s earlier Breakthrough Therapy Designations for Sunvozertinib in treatment naïve and relapsed or refractory settings. Currently, no small molecule drug has been approved in the U.S. or Europe to treat this serious disease.

The NDA submission is supported by efficacy and safety results from the multinational pivotal WU-KONG1 Part B study, evaluating sunvozertinib in relapsed or refractory NSCLC patients with EGFR exon20ins from Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. These data, presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, demonstrated statistically significant clinical benefits.

"Patients with EGFR exon20ins NSCLC face a poor prognosis and limited treatment options," said Xiaolin Zhang, PhD, CEO of Dizal. "Sunvozertinib’s Priority Review designation marks an important regulatory milestone in Dizal’s efforts to address unmet medical needs worldwide. The results from the WU-KONG1 Part B study are promising. If approved, sunvozertinib as a single oral drug would offer a convenient and safe treatment option with superior efficacy for NSCLC patients with EGFR exon20ins."

In 2023, Sunvozertinib was granted accelerated approval by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China, making it the world’s first and only oral treatment for NSCLC patients with EGFR exon20ins.

About Sunvozertinib (DZD9008)
Sunvozertinib is an irreversible EGFR inhibitor discovered by Dizal scientists targeting a wide spectrum of EGFR mutations with wild-type EGFR selectivity. In August 2023, sunvozertinib received approval from NMPA to treat advanced NSCLC with EGFR exon20ins after platinum-based chemotherapies. The approval is based on the results of WU-KONG6 study, the pivotal study of sunvozertinib in platinum-based chemotherapy pretreated NSCLC with EGFR exon20ins. In addition, sunvozertinib also demonstrated encouraging anti-tumor activity in NSCLC patients with EGFR sensitizing, T790M, and uncommon mutations (such as G719X, L861Q, etc.), as well as HER2 exon20ins.

Sunvozertinib showed a well-tolerated and manageable safety profile in the clinic. The most common drug-related TEAEs (treatment-emergent adverse event) were Grade 1/2 in nature and clinically manageable.

Two global pivotal studies are ongoing in ≥ 2nd line (WU-KONG1 Part B) and 1st line setting (WU-KONG28), respectively, in NSCLC patients with EGFR exon20ins.

Pre-clinical and clinical results of sunvozertinib were published in peer-reviewed journals Cancer Discovery and The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Corvus Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

On January 7, 2025 Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRVS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported that Richard A. Miller, M.D., president and chief executive officer, will conduct one-on-one meetings with investors and present a corporate overview at the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which is being held in San Francisco from January 13-16, 2025 (Press release, Corvus Pharmaceuticals, JAN 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234649464]). The Company’s presentation will be on Wednesday, January 15 at 2:15 pm ET / 11:15 am PT.

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An audio webcast of the presentation will be available live and for 30 days following the event. The webcast may be accessed via the investor relations section of the Corvus website.

Lilly to participate in J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

On January 7, 2025 Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) reported that it will attend the 43rd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Jan. 13-16, 2025. David A. Ricks, Lilly chair and CEO, will participate in a fireside chat on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 5:15 p.m. Eastern time (Press release, Eli Lilly, JAN 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234649465]).

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A live audio webcast will be available on the "Webcasts & Presentations" section of Lilly’s Investor website at View Source A replay of the presentation will be available on this same website for approximately 30 days.

Biocytogen and Acepodia Join Forces to Advance Bispecific Antibody and Dual-Payload ADCs for Treating Complex Tumors

On January 7, 2025 Biocytogen (HKEX: 02315) and Acepodia (6976:TT), reported a groundbreaking strategic partnership to jointly assess a dual-payload bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (BsAD2C) program (Press release, Biocytogen, JAN 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234649485]).

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This collaboration combines Biocytogen’s RenLite platform with Acepodia’s Antibody-Dual-Drugs Conjugation (AD2C) technology to tackle some of the toughest challenges in oncology—tumor heterogeneity and drug resistance. This novel approach aims to address these complexities by utilizing dual-payloads that target multiple therapeutic or disease pathways. These payloads are delivered with bispecific antibodies that enable enhanced precision and functionality.

As part of the strategic partnership, Biocytogen will provide a bispecific antibody derived from its proprietary RenLite platform, which is designed to produce fully human bispecific antibodies with unique binding properties. To this antibody, Acepodia will integrate two different payloads using its Antibody-Dual-Drugs Conjugation (AD2C) platform. This platform enables site-selective conjugation of multiple payloads to an antibody using bio-orthogonal click chemistry with no required antibody engineering, maintaining antibody integrity and binding capacity, and allowing strategic and precise control over the Drug-to-Antibody Ratio (DAR) for optimal potency and safety.

"We are thrilled to partner with the Acepodia team who brings deep expertise in bio-orthogonal click chemistry and the unique opportunity to combine our RenLite bispecific antibodies with site-selective dual-payload conjugates," said Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen. "We look forward to bridging our platforms to explore the therapeutic potential of highly potent BsADCs."

"Biocytogen’s superior bispecific antibodies and highly collaborative team make them an ideal partner for advancing our AD2C payload platform," said Sonny Hsiao, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Acepodia. "This partnership redefines the possibilities of ADC design, with the potential to deliver breakthrough therapies to patients in desperate need of new options."

This strategic partnership underscores the commitment of both companies to addressing the critical unmet needs in ADC drug development for solid tumors, paving the way for innovative therapies that improve patient outcomes

GSK’s B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate, GSK’227, receives US FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation in late-line relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma

On January 7, 2025 GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for GSK5764227 (GSK’227), its B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) being evaluated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma (bone cancer) who have progressed on at least two prior lines of therapy (Press release, GlaxoSmithKline, JAN 7, 2025, View Source [SID1234649466]). The Breakthrough Therapy Designation aims to expedite the development and review of drugs with the potential to treat a serious condition and where preliminary clinical evidence may indicate substantial improvement over currently available therapy.1 This is the third regulatory designation for GSK’227, following the European Medicines Agency’s decision to grant Priority Medicines (PRIME) designation and the FDA’s decision to grant Breakthrough Therapy Designation for relapsed or refractory extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in August 2024 and December 2024, respectively.2,3

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Hesham Abdullah, Senior Vice President, Global Head Oncology, R&D, GSK, said: "This latest regulatory designation for GSK’227 exemplifies the potential of our targeted ADC in patients with difficult to treat cancers. For patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma, there is an urgent unmet medical need with no approved treatment options once the cancer returns a second time, and chemotherapy provides limited benefit in this setting."

The US FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy Designation is supported by data from the ARTEMIS-002 study. This is a phase II, open-label, randomised, multi-centre, clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of GSK’227 in patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma and other unresectable bone and soft tissue sarcomas, conducted by Hansoh Pharma. More than 60 patients were enrolled, including 42 patients with osteosarcoma. Results from ARTEMIS-002 were presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.4 Last year, GSK acquired exclusive worldwide rights (excluding China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) from Hansoh Pharma to progress clinical development and commercialisation of GSK’227. GSK recently began a global phase I trial (NCT06551142) as a part of the development plan to support a registrational pathway for GSK’227.

Osteosarcoma mainly affects children and young adults and is the most common primary bone cancer, accounting for 20-40% of all bone cancers.5 It is a rare disease with an annual incidence of 3.3 patients per million in the US, representing less than 1% of all new cancer diagnoses.6,7 Approximately 20-30% of patients who present with localised (non-metastatic) osteosarcoma and 80% of those who present with metastatic osteosarcoma experience relapsed or refractory disease.8 Following first-line chemotherapy, treatment options for patients with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma are severely limited, with no clear standard of care available.9 After patients progress on two prior lines of treatment, options become even more limited, with no approved therapies.

About GSK’227
GSK’227, also known as HS-20093, is a novel investigational B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate composed of a fully human anti-B7-H3 monoclonal antibody covalently linked to a topoisomerase inhibitor payload. HS-20093 is being developed by Hansoh Pharma for the treatment of lung cancer, sarcoma, head and neck cancers and other solid tumours in multiple phase I, II and III clinical trials in China. GSK’s global phase I trial for GSK’227 began in August 2024.