The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, taking place in Chicago from 31 May to 4 June 2024, is one of the most prominent and highly regarded events in the oncology calendar. This year’s event will contain over 200 presentations by leading scientists and companies discussing the latest progress in cancer research and treatment.
We asked Dr Mandeep Sehmi, Head of Business Development at Scancell, one of the companies presenting, what excites her about this year’s event.
1. What is ASCO? Why is it important?
Alongside the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, which Scancell presented at back in April, ASCO is widely regarded as the most important event in the global oncology calendar. The world’s leading cancer researchers and treatment developers gather to share their latest findings and progress, catalysing conversations and forging connections which have the potential to further the fight against this most pervasive of diseases. In addition to the high-level science, ASCO also contains a number of useful educational sessions which encompasses the latest treatment updates across the spectrum of the disease. From the perspective of a clinical-stage therapeutics developer, it is immeasurably valuable to interact and learn from companies whose products are already changing lives as well as the experiences of fellow pioneers who are also working to bring their drugs to market.
2. Why are you attending ASCO this year?
There is considerable excitement surrounding therapeutic cancer vaccines and their potential to transform the oncology space, with companies such as Moderna and BioNTech having recently announced positive data in their trials. For Scancell, it is essential that we remain at the forefront of this excitement and that is why we are excited to be sharing the incredible progress Scancell has made over the past twelve months with the distinguished audience of ASCO. Last year, the open-label Phase 2 SCOPE trial, investigating our cancer vaccine SCIB1 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) in advanced melanoma, demonstrated exceptional results from the first 13 patients dosed with an objective response rate of 85%, better than the 70% ORR that the trial was configured to show.
3. What do you think will be the main highlights of this ASCO meeting?
This year’s presidential theme, decided by Dr. Lynn Schuchter, is The Art and Science of Cancer Care: From Comfort to Cure. Her emphasis on treatment rather than symptom management reflects the oncology industry’s continued commitment to developing lifechanging drugs; in 2024, oncology remains the leading area of therapeutic study with over 6,000 trials being set to conclude.
There will be particular interest in antibody-based treatments this year with Merck & Co presenting data from its Phase 3 study investigating its antibody-drug conjugate therapy (ADC), Sac-TMT (stirumotecan) in previously treated locally recurrent or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Astellas will also reveal the final overall survival results from the Phase 3 SPOTLIGHT study, evaluating the efficacy and safety of zolbetuximab, a first-in-class claudin (CLDN) 18.2-targeted monoclonal antibody which was recently approved by Japan’s MHLW and is currently being reviewed by multiple regulatory authorities worldwide.
4. As Head of Business Development, how do you decide which conferences to attend?
The most important factor we consider when deliberating on whether to attend a conference is the quality of the networking and engagement opportunities it offers us. For a conference to be a valuable investment cost-wise – in terms of event fees, travel costs, and most importantly the precious time of our senior leadership team and scientists – it has to either bring the Scancell story to a new audience or help the story evolve. In the case of ASCO, we are attending to bring further awareness to our exciting progress in the cancer vaccine space to leading researchers and investors, specifically those based in the US.
