RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Background to Gilead's $21 Bln acquisition of Immunomedics With Roche’s HER2-positive breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) patent expired in 2019 the company along with others are accelerating to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) incorporating trastuzumab into a proprietary combination oncology product.
Consequently Roche appears to have consulted ONCY and SOLTI to initiate cohort 6 in the AWARE-1 study to further determine the synergy of trastuzumab plus ONCY's oncolytic virus pelareorep in the treatment of HER2 positive early stage breast cancer. It has already been reported that this comination is effective in the treatment of HER2 positive gastric cancers.
ONCY has already informed its shareholders that pelreorep is being studied with bispecifics, now perphaps ADCs are also on the list as the newly announced cohort 6 has been opened under the AWARE-1 study.
Such work will certainly peak Gilead's interest especially now with Gilead's acquisition of Immunomedics.