Pre­clin­i­cal study finds Gen­mab may hold the key to a next-gen triple fol­lowup to MEK/BRAF com­bos

A Gen­mab-spon­sored study touts pre­clin­i­cal ev­i­dence that one of its tar­get­ed an­ti­body-drug con­ju­gates can be ef­fec­tive against a spe­cif­ic type of melanoma where ex­ist­ing treat­ment is fail­ing, point­ing to a po­ten­tial new triple com­bi­na­tion strat­e­gy.

The BRAF gene is a well-stud­ied path­way in melanoma, as a mu­ta­tion in it caus­es tu­mor cells to pro­lif­er­ate. Tai­lored treat­ments com­bin­ing BRAF- and MEK-in­hibitors, the cur­rent stan­dard, are of­ten ef­fec­tive (Genen­tech has a com­bo in the mar­ket, while No­var­tis is hus­tling ahead with piv­otal stud­ies for its com­bo of Tafin­lar and Mekin­ist). How­ev­er, as the pa­per pub­lished to­day by Nether­lands Can­cer In­sti­tute (NKI) in Na­ture Med­i­cine points out, many tu­mors de­vel­op re­sis­tance to them. 

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