BB Biotech reviews investments in cancer medicine makers

Oncology is the therapeutic area with the greatest weighting in BB Biotech's portfolio and it could deliver the most significant commercial breakthroughs in the not all-too-distant future, alongside its investments in the field of mRNA technology, according to Dr Daniel Koller, head of PM for Switzerland-based investment company.

Oncology is the largest therapeutic area by far in BB Biotech’s investment portfolio, followed by rare hereditary diseases and central nervous system disorders. Some of the companies in the portfolio have recently made remarkable clinical progress on cancer therapies. With the attention of the general public and investors focusing on breakthroughs in COVID-19 vaccines and treatments this year, these successes have gone largely unnoticed except by industry experts.

The highlights include immunotherapies to treat blood cancers such as acute and chronic leukemia, lymphatic system cancers, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Incyte (Nasdaq: INCY), a long-standing position in our/OR/BB Biotech’s portfolio, and its German biotech partner MorphoSys (FSE: MOR) jointly launched Monjuvi (tafasitamab), a new treatment for DLBCL. DLBCL has historically been managed by a combination of antibodies, chemotherapies and steroids, but about one-third of patients fail to respond to this treatment strategy.