The management of Roche has decided to stop the immunotherapy treatment trial for lung cancer, which is a further blow to making a breakthrough in cancer treatment. They stated that this decision was reached after realizing that the trial did not produce the expected results in their plan for developing viable strategies for new lung cancer treatments.
The phase 3 trial, dubbed SKYSCRAPER-06, was cut short due to the tepid performance of tiragolumab, Roche’s experimental cancer therapy. Tiragolumab, when combined with another medication, was shown to be inferior in slowing disease progression or extending survival compared to the combination of tiragolumab with Keytruda, an already established drug in Merck & Co’s portfolio. These findings raise significant questions about tiragolumab’s prospects and its ability to be a competitive contender in the lung cancer indication.
Roche’s stock also dipped by 2.3% to a three-week low after the news, signaling investors’ concern over the future prospects of the drug. JP Morgan’s analysts were also pessimistic about tiragolumab, claiming that the market may ignore all remaining possibilities for the drug in light of these results.
Tiragolumab is classified within the firm of anti-TIGIT, a new class of drugs that has garnered interest from many competitors in the market. Despite earlier trials and initial optimism in 2022 for this type of therapy in different patients, which also did not yield positive results in terms of changing disease progression, the current failure of the SKYSCRAPER-06 phase has been a severe blow to Roche in this therapeutic area.
Roche’s chief medical officer, Levi Garraway, conveyed disappointment over the trial’s conclusion in lung cancer treatment. Roche has suggested that it will take time to undertake a complete analysis of the results and look at the changes that might be required in the ongoing tiragolumab program, stating the necessity of rebalancing their strategy given the present difficulties.
