GSK reports promising early results in ovarian and womb cancer drug trial | GSK
GSK has announced positive results for gynecological cancer treatment as its chief executive Luke Miels aims to accelerate drug development at the group.
The company said that in an early-stage trial, Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumors in 62% of ovarian cancer patients for whom chemotherapy had failed and in 67% of those with endometrial cancer.
GSK, headquartered in London, has recently been recognized for its work in combating superbugs and is one of three major pharmaceutical companies worldwide that continues to invest in antimicrobial research.
But from a commercial standpoint, GSK has been eclipsed in recent years by larger British rival AstraZeneca, which last year beat GSK’s turnover of close to £33bn by more than £10bn and has a market capitalization more than double that.
GSK acquired the Mo-Rez cancer treatment, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), from China’s Hansoh Pharma in late 2023 and trialled it in 224 patients worldwide, including in the UK, last year. A very small number of patients had to discontinue treatment due to side effects; the most common was nausea. It is administered via intravenous infusion every three weeks.
These results, combined with data from a separate interim trial in China, give the British drugmaker the confidence to move directly into late-stage trials, with five clinical trials planned globally over the next few months, including in patients in the UK.
Presenting the results at the Society of Gynecological Oncology’s annual meeting on women’s cancer in Puerto Rico, GSK’s head of global cancer research and development, Hesham Abdullah, said: “The treatment of gynecological cancers remains a major challenge with the urgent need for new treatments that offer improved response rates. With Mo-Rez, we now have convincing evidence of a promising clinical profile.”
Endometrial cancer affects 1.6 million women worldwide, with 417,000 new cases occurring each year. Ovarian cancer affects 843,000 people, with 240,000 new cases annually.
Speaking to reporters before the conference, Abdullah called Mo-Rez a “significant asset” in the company’s growing cancer portfolio. The drug, which GSK hopes will help it reach its £40bn sales target by 2031, is expected to be a blockbuster with peak annual sales of over £2bn.
Australian Miels, who was brought in from AstraZeneca by his predecessor Emma Walmsley in 2017 and has worked for Roche and Sanofi-Aventis, announced several deals since taking over GSK on January 1 and vowed to show “scientific courage”.
Abdullah said that Miels, with whom he previously worked at AstraZeneca, increased the pace of drug development. “The whole organization certainly really enjoys keeping that pace, having agility and scientific prowess..
“His leadership style, his commitment, his strategic foresight, his drug development expertise… you also see some of that come to life through development programs.”
It is less than a decade since GSK returned to oncology under Walmsley, after selling its cancer portfolio to Novartis in 2015 in exchange for the Swiss company’s vaccines business.
A few years ago, GSK did not have any cancer drugs on the market, but it currently has four drugs approved and 13 in clinical development. Last year, oncology generated sales of nearly £2bn, up 43% on 2024, and sales of endometrial cancer drug Jemperli rose 89%.
