Strategic reorganization, increased investment reaffirm Daiichi Sankyo's long-term oncology goals

Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568) received a major headway in the global oncology space with the launch of its first antibody drug conjugate (ADC) therapy Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan).

In addition to the strong ADC follow-up pipeline, the establishment of a new unified oncology business unit aligning the USA and European Union markets and increased investment in ADC R&D will likely bolster its global oncology footprint, says data and analytics company GlobalData.

Enhertu, which was already approved in Japan in September 2020, received US Food and Drug Administration approval for its second indication gastric cancer in January 2021. It was initially approved for unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in the USA, Japan and in the EU in December 2019, March 2020 and January 2021, respectively. It is being further evaluated in nine registrational trials for additional HER2 cancer indications, including breast, gastric and lung cancers.