Drug companies have wagered billions on bispecific antibody drugs aimed at the well-known oncology targets PD-1 and VEGF ever since one of them, ivonescimab, beat Keytruda in a lung cancer trial in 2024.
That win spurred a wave of deals, and recent data from a China-based phase 3 trial for ivonescimab supported the field’s optimism. In the study, the drug, developed by Akeso and licensed to Summit Therapeutics, cut the risk of death in lung cancer by 34% compared to standard chemotherapy plus a PD-1 inhibitor.
But trial data may not tell the full story of the treatment, and companies could be missing a better opportunity for PD-1/VEGF bispecifics, according to Souro Chowdhury, a senior business analyst at Lifescience Dynamics.
“There's a lot of excitement about their application in lung cancer, but that's not necessarily the right or the best indication for this type of drug,” Chowdhury said.
Evidence from past trials suggests that the mechanism may have a better payoff in other types of cancer, including liver tumors like hepatocellular carcinoma, which rely more heavily on the VEGF protein pathway, he said. Gastric cancers could be another promising target.
