AZ/Daiichi Sankyo’s antibody drug conjugates prove promising in early trials

AstraZeneca (AZ) and Daiichi Sankyo have posted new data from Phase I/II trials evaluating their respective antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) and datopotamab deruxtecan.

The data, presented during the World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), contained updated results from the Phase I TROPION-PanTumor01 trial.

According to the companies, datopotamab deruxtecan showed promising clinical activity in patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

In this trial, an objective response rate (ORR) of 21-25% was observed in 159 patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC receiving varying doses of datopotamab deruxtecan (4mg/kg, 6mg/kg or 8mg/kg).

In addition, a disease control rate (DCR) ranging from between 67-80% was observed, with a median progression-free survival (PFS) ranging from 4.3 to 8.2 months across the three dose groups.

Meanwhile, an interim analysis of the HER-2 over-expressing cohort of the Phase II DESTINY-Lung01 trial also showed preliminary evidence of anti-tumour activity for Enhertu in metastatic NSCLC patients.

Among the extensively pretreated, HER2-positive NSCLC patients who received Enhertu in this trial, the confirmed ORR was 24.5%.

Patients in this trial also achieved a DCR of 69.4% with a median PFS of 5.4 months. After a median follow-up of 6.1 months, the median duration of response was six months while median overall survival (OS) came in at 11.3 months.

“Antibody drug conjugates have transformative potential for the targeted treatment of advanced lung cancer, and the early data for datopotamab deruxtecan and Enhertu suggest a promising durable benefit in patients who have limited treatment options,” said Cristian Massacesi, senior Vice president, head of late-stage development, Oncology R&D at AZ.

“Both are potent ADCs, and we look forward to further clinical data from these development programmes in patients with lung cancer,” he added.