Pfizer has identified a potential path forward for its experimental lung cancer drug, sigvotatug vedotin, after it failed to meet the primary survival goal in a late-stage trial announced in June. A new analysis presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress showed a survival benefit in a subgroup of patients.
Patients who had received only one prior line of therapy lived a median of 2.5 months longer with sigvotatug vedotin than with standard chemotherapy. The findings have renewed Pfizer’s optimism about the treatment, which was a key component of its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen.
Pfizer is now focusing on an ongoing Phase 3 trial testing the drug with Merck’s blockbuster immunotherapy, Keytruda, as a first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.