GSK, Hansoh's bone cancer drug delays disease progression in late-stage China study

By Bhanvi Satija and Sneha S K

MADRID, Oct 26 (Reuters) - An experimental drug for a hard-to-treat bone cancer, being developed by Hansoh Pharmaceutical 3692.HK and GSK GSK.L, helped patients live longer without the disease worsening, according to data presented by researchers at a medical meeting on Monday.

Patients on ris-rez, a type of targeted cancer therapy, lived a median of 5.5 months without their disease worsening, compared with 1.4 months for those on chemotherapy, according to a late-stage study conducted in China.

Such drugs are often described as "guided missiles" as they deliver cell-killing drugs directly to tumors while largely sparing healthy tissue.

Ris-rez is at the center of GSK's strategy to rebuild a competitive presence in oncology, a decade after exiting the space. The company has licensed the drug from Hansoh and is accelerating its development across several cancers.

The drug was tested in 122 patients, aged 12 and older, with relapsed refractory osteosarcoma who have progressed after more than two lines of prior treatment.

It "is a very interesting study that might change the way that we will envision the treatment in osteosarcoma," said Nathalie Gaspar, paediatric oncologist at Paris-based Gustave Roussy.

The drug also showed a 67% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death in patients, said Lu Xie of Peking University People's Hospital, who was the lead researcher of the trial.

"The magnitude of effect is substantial," Eric Richards, who heads oncology product development at GSK, told Reuters on the sidelines of the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Madrid. "It gives us a lot of confidence that what we're hoping for — activity across these different tumors — is likely to come to fruition."

Patients received a 12-milligram dose of the drug or chemotherapy once every three weeks.

GSK is seeking to broaden its focus beyond blood and gynaecological treatments into areas such as lung and prostate cancer under new CEO Luke Miels. It is also developing mo-rez, another experimental therapy licensed from the Chinese drugmaker that it believes has blockbuster potential.

At this year's Congress, GSK had 21 data abstracts, including for its partnered lung and other cancer drugs, compared to 11 last year.