Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative/hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (HER2-/HR+ BC) is one of the most prevalent subtypes of BC in China. Historically, foreign companies have dominated the HER2-/HR+ marketed drug space in the country. However, the trend is expected to change gradually, considering the strong innovative late stage (Phase III and above) pipeline by the domestic pharmaceutical firms, observes GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to ‘GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center’, China accounted for 27% of the global HER2-/HR+ BC cases in 2022. The number of incident cases by biomarker (HER2-/HR+) is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 3.36% from 381,844 in 2022 to 445,616 in 2028.

The prevalent treatment options for HER2-/HR+ BC in China have been centered around endocrine or anti-oestrogen therapies (AstraZeneca’s fulvestrant – Faslodex), and/or in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors (Pfizer’s palbociclib – Ibrance, and Lilly’s abemaciclib – Verzenios) as first-line or second-line therapies.

Atulana Dey, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Although the current HER2-/HR+ BC treatment profile is quite established, patients often develop resistance to these drugs after a certain period and hence are subjected to high probability of a relapse.”

Given the high incidence rate of HER2-/HR+ BC in China, there has been a significant increase in the number of drugs in pipeline, especially with local companies like Everest Medicines, Genor Biopharma, EOC Pharma, Sino Biopharma, Avanc Pharmaceutical, Laekna Therapeutics, and Sihuan Pharmaceuticals, focusing on the development of innovator molecules.

Dey concludes: “As China is expected to witness a massive rise in HER2-/HR+ cases in the next five years, the local companies are looking to develop home-grown novel targeted therapies for patients who develop resistance to the existing standard-of-care treatments, and significantly improve the clinical outcomes and quality of life of breast cancer patients.”