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Welcome to Friday's highlights from ESMO's virtual annual meeting. To keep up with the news all weekend, check in regularly at FiercePharma.com and FierceBiotech.com.

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Pfizer's Ibrance flop in early breast cancer shouldn't hurt metastatic sales, exec says

By Carly Helfand

Pfizer talked up Ibrance’s potential in early breast cancer for years before getting the bad news this May: The Pallas study, in stage 2 and stage 3 patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative disease, was a flop. But while the failure means Ibrance will miss that sales opportunity, it shouldn't hurt the drug's revenue in the metastatic setting, one exec says.

Chi-Med's surufatinib gears up to challenge Novartis, Pfizer with placebo-topping phase 3

By Nick Paul Taylor

Chi-Med has unveiled some phase 3 data it's hoping will help win FDA approval for surufatinib. Tested in Chinese patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, the angio-immuno kinase inhibitor staved off disease progression for a median 10.9 months, compared with 3.7 months for placebo.

Alkermes' major I-O hope sees progress across early cancer tests

By Ben Adams

Alkermes is making a bit bet on its immuno-oncology program after swingeing cuts and R&D setbacks over the past year left its I-O program as one of its leading pipeline hopes.

Merck chalks one up for TIGIT with phase 1 Keytruda combo

By Amirah Al Idrus

Merck’s TIGIT-blocking prospect and PD-1 med Keytruda shrank tumors in 29% of lung cancer patients who had never tried a checkpoint inhibitor. But it did better—as expected—in a subset of patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1 at levels of 1% or higher.

Regeneron and Sanofi prime new Libtayo market with strong data in basal cell carcinoma

By Arlene Weintraub

When Regeneron and Sanofi won FDA approval for their anti-PD-1 cancer drug Libtayo in 2018, they were late to a market already dominated by the likes of Merck & Co.’s Keytruda. But now they're trying to forge a brand-new market for PD-1 inhibitors—and they just posted data that could help.

Merck's kidney cancer med, nabbed in Peloton buyout, keeps on delivering with additional responses

By Amirah Al Idrus

Merck's HIF-2α inhibitor, picked up in its $1 billion Peloton buyout, shrank kidney tumors in 36% of patients whose cancer is linked to a genetic condition called Von Hippel-Lindau disease. The drug also shrank tumors in other parts of the body, including in the pancreas, brain and spinal cord.

Pfizer, Merck KGaA's Bavencio comes up short against placebo in risky head and neck cancer trial

By Carly Helfand

Sometimes in oncology, when you see a signal, you take a risk and head into phase 3 “because the patients are waiting and the business opportunity is in front of you,” one Pfizer exec says. That’s just what happened with the Javelin Head and Neck 100 study—though it didn't turn out as well as the company might have hoped.

Amunix's T-cell engagers shrink solid tumors in animal models