$金斯瑞生物科技(01548)$$强生(JNJ)$ The efficacy data will bat back initial doubts some analysts had about Legend’s data, which was undercut by a lower number of median lines of prior therapy compared to bluebird, whose execs were quick to spotlight evidence that Legend’s patients weren’t as sick as the early groups treated with their CAR-T, bb2121. Legend execs, though, told me that tracking prior lines of therapy can be difficult in Chinese hospitals, so they took a more conservative approach — an argument that never gained much traction in the US. J&J R&D director Mathai Mammen, meanwhile, made it clear that J&J had examined every scrap of info on the drug during their due diligence, leaving him satisfied on the potential of this drug.
J&J fronted their partnership with a $350 million upfront payment to underscore that confidence.
Legend’s drug is dubbed LCAR-B38M, which now has longer term results. Here’s what the partners reported at ASH.
Why are they nailing down better outcomes than rivals? The researchers say that their therapy has two BCMA-targeting single domain antibodies instead of just one. And they are well on their way to proving it. If they succeed, the Legend story may well bolster China’s rep for R&D innovation at a time the country is making massive investments in the field.
“We are encouraged by the overall response reported in patients receiving JNJ-4528, results that build upon the LEGEND-2 study data as reported in Chinese patients and now show promise in U.S. patients,” said Sen Zhuang, J&J’s VP of oncology clinical development.