Daiichi Sankyo initiates phase 1 study of DS-1062 in patients with advanced NSCLC

TOKYO, BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and MUNICH: Daiichi Sankyo announced the first patient has been dosed in a phase 1 study assessing the safety and tolerability of DS-1062, an investigational TROP2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), in patients with unresectable advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are refractory to or have relapsed following standard treatment or for whom no standard treatment is available.

DS-1062 is designed to target and deliver chemotherapy inside cancer cells expressing trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2), which is overexpressed in many cancers including NSCLC.

Overexpression of TROP2 is a driver in cancer growth and has been associated with decreased patient survival, increased tumor aggressiveness, metastasis, and drug resistance in several tumor types.

"We are initially focusing on evaluating DS-1062 in patients with advanced NSCLC with potential expansion into other tumor types depending on the results of this early critical test in a study designed to provide evidence supporting unique properties of this particular TROP2 ADC construct," said Antoine Yver, MD, MSc, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Oncology Research and Development, Daiichi Sankyo.

"With the initiation of this study of DS-1062, we move our third ADC into the clinic and continue to investigate the potential of the smart delivery of chemotherapy in various cancers including lung, breast, and gastric cancer."