Developments in cancer research will be in the spotlight as the American Society of Clinical Oncology hosts the world’s biggest cancer research conference in Chicago, starting Thursday. Investors have already caught a glimpse of the topics that will be discussed but many are eager to hear the details behind the abstracts, and no doubt there will be surprises. The immunotherapy known as CAR-T, for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, will be in focus, as it has been in recent years. This class of treatment takes immune cells from a patient, alters the cells to fight a specific type of cancer and reinfuses them back into the body. Andy Acker, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, called out the excitement around one CAR-T therapy, Carvykti, from Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech , for the treatment of multiple myeloma. According to data that has been leaked on the study , the treatment slashed the risk of a tumor or disease progression by 74% compared with current therapies for patients that previously failed other regimens. “That is sort of an unheard of benefit,” Acker said. “… That essentially means you are quadrupling the progression-free survival, so … in other words, you could potentially go for years without the disease coming back.” Johnson & Johnson shares are down nearly 13% since the start of the year, but Legend’s U.S.-traded stock has gained about 26%. According to FactSet, analysts have an average price target of $81 for Legend shares, which implies 28% upside from Friday’s close. Carvykti had $72 million in sales in the first quarter, and Piper Sandler predicts it will reach $366 million in 2023. If the data is positive at ASCO, it could set up Carvykti for a showdown with a competing treatment, Abecma, from Bristol-Myers Squibb . ‘Smart chemotherapy’ Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) also will be top of mind at the meeting. In a research report in late April, Morgan Stanley said ADCs, also called “smart chemotherapy,” could replace traditional chemotherapy and unlock a market worth more than $140 billion over the next 15 years or so. That’s up from a base of $5 billion last year, the bank said. ADC treatments use antibodies to more precisely target cancer cells. In this way, healthy tissue is spared and mortality declines. ADCs usually combine an antibody that has been designed to seek out specific types of tumors connected via a linking component to a toxic chemotherapy. Earlier generations of these drugs struggled if any, or…
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