Lib­tayo scores sec­ond OK in two weeks, this time for front-line NSCLC. Can it take on Keytru­da?

Com­ing up be­hind the oth­er ma­jor PD-1 play­ers, Re­gen­eron sought to cre­ate its own mar­ket for Lib­tayo by go­ing in­to in­di­ca­tions where oth­ers have yet to ven­ture — a strat­e­gy CSO George Yan­copou­los likes to boast about. Now, the drug can di­rect­ly com­pete against the heavy­weights with its third ap­proval.

The FDA gave Lib­tayo the green light as a monother­a­py for ad­vanced non-small cell lung can­cer in the first-line set­ting, the same in­di­ca­tion that made Mer­ck’s Keytru­da one of the most suc­cess­ful fran­chis­es in phar­ma. But it hasn’t been easy go­ing for every drug: Bris­tol My­ers Squibb’s Op­di­vo suf­fered one of its worst flops in NSCLC al­most four and a half years ago.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER