EISAI CO

Douglas B. Snyder joins IDEAYA Biosciences as SVP, General Counsel, bringing over 25 years of legal experience from GW Pharmaceuticals, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, GSK, and the U.S. FDA.

PD-1 inhibition with pembrolizumab before and after surgery significantly improves 5-year overall survival (86.6% vs 81.7%) in high-risk early triple-negative breast cancer, according to KEYNOTE-522 trial results.

The HIMALAYA study's 5-year survival analysis shows 19.6% survival with STRIDE (durvalumab plus tremelimumab) vs 9.4% with sorafenib in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, with no new safety concerns.

AstraZeneca's Imfinzi in bladder cancer reduced death risk by 25%; Merck and Eisai's combo in liver cancer cut progression or death risk by a third; Bristol's lung cancer approach faced criticism for 'cherry-picking' subgroups.

Centessa's ORX750, an OX2R agonist, showed significant wakefulness improvements in a phase 1 trial, with the 2.5 mg dose restoring normal wakefulness. ORX750 was safe and well-tolerated, prompting plans for phase 2 trials in narcolepsy types 1 and 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia starting late 2024.

KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA with TACE reduced disease progression risk by 34% in Phase 3 LEAP-012 trial for unresectable, non-metastatic HCC, with PFS of 14.6 months vs. 10.0 months for TACE alone. OS showed a trend toward improvement but was not statistically significant.

Various researchers report financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, including Deciphera, during and outside the conduct of the study.

Eisai's 40-year effort in Alzheimer's drug discovery led to breakthroughs, including anti-amyloid and anti-tau antibodies. Early diagnosis, crucial for effective treatment, historically relied on brain autopsy. Advances in biomarkers, like amyloid PET and CSF tests, have improved diagnosis but face limitations. Blood biomarkers (BBMs) offer practical advantages, with recent studies showing plasma p-tau217 tests matching CSF accuracy. The development of BBMs and anti-amyloid therapies aims to transform AD diagnosis and treatment.

E7820, Eisai's targeted protein degrader, showed tumor shrinkage in 38.1% of PDX models, particularly 58.3% in bile duct and 55.6% in uterine cancers. Whole-exome sequencing identified HRR gene mutations as predictive biomarkers. An investigator-initiated clinical study will evaluate E7820's safety and efficacy in Japanese patients with solid tumors.