Sparks

Summit Therapeutics has announced that its bispecific antibody, ivonescimab, demonstrated notable benefit over Keytruda in non-small cell lung cancer, highlighting potential as a new standard of care. The data showed that ivonescimab extended progression-free survival (PFS, the time patients lived without tumour progression) by 5.3 months versus Merck’s blockbuster immune checkpoint inhibitor (>$25bn in sales in 2023), translating to a statistically significant 49% reduction in the risk of cancer progression or death.

While Summit announced top-line results for the Phase III HARMONi-2 trial in late-May 2024, the first presentation of data came at the World Conference on Lung Cancer (7–10 September 2024). It is worth noting that HARMONi-2 was conducted entirely in China, and despite the encouraging results, they will not support a US approval. Summit is running other large head-to-head Phase III studies with results expected from late-2025, which, if positive, could support a US approval.