The IRA and cancer drugs, plus readouts from ADCs, BCMA therapies and more
By Jeff Cranmer, Executive Editor
June 5, 2023 11:51 PM UTC
ASCO’s kickoff included blunt comments from two CEOs who said the IRA is causing their companies to delay launches of cancer drugs for smaller indications, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and his BioCentury colleagues discussed remarks at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago by Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS), and Alexander Hardy, CEO of the Genentech unit of Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY), regarding how the Inflation Reduction Act is forcing the companies to make difficult decisions regarding their pipelines and patients’ access to their therapies.
The podcast team also assessed highlights from ASCO’s data presentations, including antibody-drug conjugate readouts from partners AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4568), and Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (SZSE:002422) and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK), as well as the emergence of Alkeus Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has attracted $150 million in series B money for its Stargardt program and Joshua Boger to its executive chairman position.
This week’s podcast is sponsored by Cancer Research Horizons. For information on how to sponsor BioCentury This Week and The BioCentury Show, please contact Sarah Shoaff at sarah.shoaff@biocentury.com.
