Star Drug DS-8201 Is About to Land in China

A few days ago, the official website of the Center for Drug Evaluation of the State Food and Drug Administration announced that the marketing application of the HER2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) DS-8201 jointly developed by Daiichi Sanyo and AstraZeneca was included in the priority review. , the proposed indication is monotherapy for unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer previously treated with one or more anti-HER2 drugs. If the drug is successfully launched, it will add another hero to the clinical treatment of advanced breast cancer in China.

Anyone who plays moba games knows that ADC is the C position in the team with the highest output, and ADC drugs can also play a similar role in tumor treatment.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are composed of three parts: monoclonal antibodies targeting specific antigens for specific recognition, small-molecule cytotoxic drugs responsible for effective killing, and linkers that link antibodies and cytotoxic drugs . Compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs and targeted drugs, the ADC drug design concept is quite artistic. Ideally, due to its precision-guided target recognition site, it can effectively kill latent cancer cells while avoiding the high toxic side effects of traditional chemotherapy. In addition to on-target effects, ADC drugs can also exert side effects to further kill tumor tissue.

More than ten new ADC drugs are lined up, will the breast cancer treatment landscape change?

In recent years, the competition in the domestic ADC R&D track has become intensified. According to data from CDE's official website, as of April 2022, there are 15 ADCs under investigation in the indication of breast cancer.

We can see that for the indication of breast cancer, the targets of ADCs under research are HER2 and TROP2. Taking advantage of the opportunity of DS-8201 to obtain priority review, we hope that more ADC drugs will enter the market in the future.