Summit Therapeutics hits possible snag on lung cancer drug seen as blockbuster

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

Summit Therapeutics may have a geography problem with its lung cancer drug ivonescimab.

In a study update reported Sunday, patients from North America and Europe treated with the drug saw their lung cancer return and progress faster than patients from China — a discordant result that could complicate Summit’s plans to secure approval of ivonescimab in the U.S. and Europe.

The risk of tumor progression fell by 45% for participants from China treated with ivonescimab and chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy and a placebo. For participants from Western countries, however, the risk of tumor progression was reduced by 33% — an outcome that failed to reach statistical significance.