{"text":[[{"start":8.88,"text":"A cancer drug licensed by GSK from China has delivered promising results in a trial, in a boost for the company’s oncology strategy."}],[{"start":19.560000000000002,"text":"The FTSE 100 group said Mo-Rez had an “objective response rate” — the percentage of patients whose cancer disappeared or shrank — of 62 per cent in ovarian cancer and 67 per cent in endometrial cancer. In these patients, their tumours shrank by at least 30 per cent."}],[{"start":40.69,"text":"A review of 85 cancer drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration between 2006 and 2018 found a median response rate of 41 per cent."}],[{"start":53.83,"text":"Mo-Rez is an antibody drug conjugate, a next-generation cancer treatment that aims to deliver chemotherapy in a much more targeted way."}],[{"start":65.06,"text":"The company said the drug will now progress to late-stage trials, with five phase 3 trials planned for this year. The trials build on ongoing work by Hansoh Pharma, the Chinese group GSK licensed the drug from in 2023. GSK has the global rights to develop and commercialise the drug outside China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan."}],[{"start":90.45,"text":"GSK returned to oncology under the leadership of former chief executive Dame Emma Walmsley after her predecessor offloaded the company’s oncology division to Novartis in 2014. The company had oncology sales of £2bn last year, a 43 per cent year-on-year increase."}],[{"start":109.89,"text":"Hesham Abdullah, GSK’s head of oncology research and development, said the company had gone from having no oncology treatments on the market four years ago to four approved drugs and 13 in clinical trials."}],[{"start":124.13,"text":"It expects peak annual sales of £2bn for Mo-Rez if it secures regulatory approval at the end of trials, according to a person familiar with its projections."}],[{"start":137.43,"text":"A timeline for when the drug could be on the market has not yet been set."}],[{"start":142.76000000000002,"text":"GSK has previously given itself an ambitious target of more than £40bn in sales by 2031, up from £32.7bn last year. Analysts’ consensus for that year is £35bn."}],[{"start":159.61,"text":"The UK drugmaker has agreed a number of deals recently to boost revenues ahead of patent expiries, including for branded versions of its HIV medicine dolutegravir, which is set to lose US and European exclusivity between 2028 and 2030."}],[{"start":178.29000000000002,"text":"These include a $2.2bn deal to buy Rapt Therapeutics, a US biotech developing a drug to treat food allergies and a near-$1bn deal for 35Pharma, which is developing drugs for heart and lung diseases. Last year it bought liver drug efimosfermin from Boston Pharmaceuticals for up to $2bn. "}],[{"start":201.62,"text":"GSK also had several potential blockbuster drugs, including asthma treatment Exdensur and meningitis vaccine Penmenvy, approved last year. Its share price has risen by about 70 per cent in the past year."}],[{"start":217.22,"text":"Chinese companies are emerging as leaders in biotech innovation, particularly in antibody-drug conjugates, and a number of western pharma groups have agreed licensing deals. "}],[{"start":230.1,"text":"Mo-Rez is GSK’s second partnership with Hansoh. The companies are also developing a lung cancer drug. "}],[{"start":238.64,"text":"GSK also struck a deal worth up to $12bn last year with China’s Hengrui Pharma to develop up to 12 drugs across therapeutic areas including cancer."}],[{"start":250.92,"text":"Abdullah said the positive trial results were validation of the company’s global strategy."}],[{"start":258.31,"text":"“China is one of the countries where we’re trying to access unique technology,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure we diversify the ability to access those different types of technologies, so long as they are best in class and providing something unique.”"}],[{"start":285.5,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776058253_9085.mp3"}