Daiichi Sankyo and Merck's CDH6-Targeted ADC DS-6000a Granted Clinical Trial Approval in China for Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Intelligent Finance APP learned on January 3 that the latest announcement on the official website of the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China National Medical Products Administration showed that a Class 1 new drug, DS-6000a, submitted by Daiichi Sankyo, has been approved for clinical trials. It is intended to be developed for treating platinum-resistant high-grade ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, or fallopian tube cancer patients who have previously received at least one line of systemic anti-cancer therapy. Public information indicates that DS-6000a (raludotatug deruxtecan, R-DXd) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting CDH6. In October 2023, MSD (MRK.US) and Daiichi Sankyo reached a cooperation agreement worth up to $22 billion to jointly develop three ADCs from Daiichi Sankyo, one of which is DS-6000a.

It is reported that the full Chinese name of CDH6 is Cadherin-6 or K-Cadherin. Studies show that CDH6 is expressed in about 65% to 85% of ovarian cancer tumor cells, which is associated with disease progression and lower survival rates in patients. Since CDH6 is highly expressed in tumor tissues but less expressed in normal tissues, and the ADC complex can be rapidly internalized after the antibody binds to it, CDH6 is considered one of the potential targets for treating ovarian cancer.

According to the Daiichi Sankyo press release, DS-6000a is a potential "first-in-class" CDH6-targeted ADC designed based on the company's DXd ADC technology.

Notably, according to a press release by Daiichi Sankyo in October 2023, the company has developed multiple products based on the DXd ADC technology, covering various types of cancer. In addition to DS-6000a, which has recently been approved for clinical trials, these include: Enhertu (an ADC targeting HER2) and datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd, an ADC targeting TROP2), both of which are being co-developed and commercialized globally by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca; patritumab deruxtecan, an ADC targeting HER3; ifinatamab deruxtecan, an ADC targeting B7-H3; and DS-3939, an ADC targeting TA-MUC1.