Novartis Gastric Cancer Drug Succeeds In Late-Stage Trial

Drugmaker BeiGene Ltd (6160.HK)said on the experimental drug it is developing with Swiss firm Novartis AG (NOVN.S) helped extend survival for patients with types of gastric cancer in a late-stage trial.

With the data, BeiGene is hoping the drug could become the first-line of therapy for patients with advanced forms of gastric cancer, or a rare type of cancer that begins in the area where the food pipe and stomach join.

The drug’s sales, at their peak, could reach $1.2 billion in China alone, TD Cowen analyst Yaron Werber estimated. The drug, tislelizumab, is currently approved for 10 different cancer indications in China, but is not approved in the United States.

Tislelizumab, in combination with chemotherapy, prolonged survival in patients whose gastric cancer has either spread to other parts of the body, or is in advanced stages. It was also tested in patients with gastro-esophageal junction cancer, the company said.

The drug is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a second-line therapy for another type of esophageal cancer after prior chemotherapy.

BeiGene in 2021 entered into a licensing deal worth up to $2.2 billion with Novartis for tislelizumab. Under the deal, Novartis will co-develop and commercialize tislelizumab in North America, the European Union, Japan and six other countries

Reuters/Oyenike Oyeniyi