The news: BioNTech is partnering with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize a new cancer drug candidate in a sought-after treatment class.

What’s driving it: The deal reinforces growing interest in a new type of cancer drug that combines two existing immunotherapy approaches: PD-1/PD-L1 (like Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo) and VEGF (like Genentech’s Avastin).

• Akeso and Summit Therapeutics stirred excitement in September when their candidate reduced the risk of tumor progression by 49% compared with Keytruda in a phase 3 non-small lung cancer study in China.
• Merck committed up to $3 billion in a deal with LaNova Medicines also in September for its early stage PD-1/VEGF bispecific.
• Pfizer last month plunked down $1.3 billion for the exclusive rights to 3SBio’s cancer drug in the same class.

Why it matters: Merck’s blockbuster Keytruda posted sales of $29.5 billion last year, but faces patent expirations in 2028, opening the door to biosimilar copy competition.

Keytruda and Opdivo transformed cancer treatment after getting approval 10 years ago, moving beyond chemotherapy with drugs that prolonged life and even led to remission for certain patients. There are now seven other PD-1 pathway cancer drugs approved in 20 different types of cancer.

However, duplicating broad immunotherapy success beyond PD-1/PD-L1 has been difficult. Many drugmakers, including Merck, are expanding into more targeted cancer therapies. Oncology drug clinical trials increased to 2,162 in 2021, up 12% since 2019, per an IQVIA report last month. Novel modalities, including bispecific antibodies, now account for 35% of trials.

The takeaway: Cancer drug development is booming with promising treatments like the bispecific class on the horizon. That’s potentially good news for cancer patients who could benefit from new treatment options, but it also likely comes with higher price tags as drugmakers look to recoup expensive acquisition and R&D costs.

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