Following a study published in The Lancet Oncology regarding a brand new type of cancer drug that has shown promise in multiple cancer types in early Phase I/II trials,

Philippa Salter, Pharma Analyst at Global Data, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Although cancer treatment has significantly advanced over the past few decades, there are still many ‘difficult-to-treat’ cancers, particularly when they reach more advanced stages. However, this trial showed that tisotumab vedotin caused a response in a significant minority of patients with advanced stage cancer who had already failed to respond to at least 3 treatments on average, which shows the promise that this therapy can fill unmet needs in the oncology market, providing further treatment options for patients who have currently run out of options.

“The results from this trial were so promising that the drug has already progressed to Phase II trials for cervical cancer, with responses in this trial seen in 26.5% of patients with cervical cancer. It will be interesting to see if the positive results can be replicated in a more robust trial focusing in on one cancer type, as the primary endpoint of this early Phase I/II trial was the incidence of adverse events and not efficacy per se.

“Tissue factor is expressed across many solid tumor types and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. However, tisotumab vedotin has shown good response from several different cancers, which gives the drug high commercial potential if it can be approved across multiple indications.”