Roche (SIX: ROP) strengthens divarasib's case with head-to-head lung-cancer results
The KRAS inhibitor improved survival and disease control against a pooled active-comparator group.
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Roche presented Phase 3 Krascendo 1 results comparing divarasib with the approved KRAS inhibitors Lumakras or Krazati in previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer. Median overall survival was 17.7 months with divarasib and 12 months in the control group.
Median progression-free survival was 9.8 months versus 5.7 months, while objective response rates were 58% and 32%, respectively. The trial included 167 patients assigned divarasib and 171 assigned one of the comparator medicines.
These are direct comparative findings, an important distinction from attempts to rank drugs using separate studies. However, the pooled control result should not be presented as two independently established comparisons against each individual medicine.
The data strengthen Roche's regulatory and commercial case for entering an established targeted-treatment market. Approval and eventual positioning still require review of the complete evidence, including safety. For investors, the attraction is a potential improvement within a genetically defined patient group rather than an unrestricted lung-cancer opportunity.
Sources: Fierce Biotech results reporting, 25 October; Roche security symbols.