ASCO Soundbites, Vol. 3: Real-time approvals, Pfizer's second rodeo and "the busiest ASCO of all time"

As CHICAGO – ASCO moves closer to its official closure, it's time to pull together our favorite weekend quotes – a process that has become a tradition for us over the past two years. Read on to see the most colorful things that pharmaceutical industry executives have to say about the conference, their data, the FDA, genetic testing, and so on.

• According to Johnson & Johnson, his latest prostate cancer data for Zytiga's successor, Erleada, are unique and should make things easier for clinicians, "said Mark Wildgust, vice president of medical affairs. in oncology at J & J Janssen, said. "It's simple. All men with metastatic prostate cancer, that they undergo surgery, radiation therapy, an ADT, perhaps a little docetaxel, have a longer life when they give them Apalutamide, "he said.
• The addition of Keytruda to chemotherapy could have halved the risk of death in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, not yet treated, but not in the case of gastric cancer. A study presented by Merck over the weekend showed that Keytruda and chemotherapy together were actually worse than chemotherapy alone, reminding observers of the industry that "we are early enough in total exploration instead of immuno-oncology therapy, "Roy Baynes, MD Merck SVP and Head of Global Clinical Development, told us. When asked what results from the Keytruda-chemo combo he was most keen to see next, he joked that "I would like to see them all", before putting forward the tests on the bladder cancer and bad cancer. "I hope we will have answers in a not too distant future," he said.
• Talzenna, a product recently launched by Pfizer, competes with PARP in bad cancer, but "the benefit of our experience … and this type of approach to precision medicine" is that "this is not our first time at the rodeo, "Andy Schmeltz, world president and general manager of Pfizer's oncology unit, said. When the company was testing Xalkori, a lung cancer drug, only 11% of patients were tested for the ALK gene. Today, this number is closer to 85%. "We have come this way," Schmeltz said.
• Lyntaza and AstraZeneca will do exactly what Lynraza and AstraZeneca will do about the new cancer data from Merck, predicts Dave Fredrickson, Senior Vice President and Global Head of AstraZeneca's Division of Oncology. An agreement acceptable to the partners "would create the imperative to ensure that we test BRCA apart from women's cancers only," he said, adding, "I think the turning point and story are very exciting. we understood the science behind BRCA. "
• AbbVie and Roche do not have the typical ASCO experience with disclosing data on their Venclexta-Gazyva combo in the treatment of first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Normally, companies make their presentations at the meeting to an audience of oncologists. The doctors were therefore informed before approval. But thanks to the FDA's new Real-Time Oncology Review, which gave the pharmaceutical company the go-ahead in mid-May, "sequencing" was "a little different," Rod Humerickhouse , MD, Ph.D., and the resource strategy manager at AbbVie, said, adding that "there was no public forum" for the data at the time of l & # 39; ;approval. "The FDA has not coordinated with ASCO," joked Danelle James, MD, Clinical Sciences Manager at AbbVie's Pharmacyclics. "No, they did not," said Humerickhouse, "and we are happy about it."
• Was this year's ASCO "silent"? Not at Regeneron. "We are in launch mode. This is our first ASCO after approval "of the PD-1 inhibitor Libtayo, E.B. Brakewood, vice president and general manager of Regeneron's oncology business unit, said. "It's anything but calm. For us, this looks like the busiest ASCO of all time. "