In a January 2018 article by John Carroll titled, GSK’s...

In a January 2018 article by John Carroll titled, GSK’s long-quiet cancer R&D group is ready to make some noise as it mounts a breakout late-stage effort, there are some things that GSK won't do in oncology R&D including a PD-1 program. Axel Hoos, interviewed for the article, makes the point that it makes no sense because GSK will not be a leader in PD-1.

Its a crowded house. The point is well made in the research paper referenced in the latest Imugene presentation, Comprehensive analysis of the clinical immuno-oncology landscape,Annals of Oncology, 2017. The authors make the point that there has been significant duplication with a rapid increase in the number of anti-PD-1/L1 combination studies often testing the same combinations.

What if there were a paradign shift in targeting PD-1? Refer to slide 15 of the Imugene presentation January 2019 - there's that word. All bets are off, the game is afoot. GSK could become a market leader. For that matter, any late arrival to PD-1 could become a market leader and jump over the top of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck and Roche-Genentech. One senses that Her-Vaxx, while if successful and with the potential to be a blockbuster drug in its own right, is nonetheless a proof of concept for a PD-1 targeting B-cell vaccine. The proof of concept is well advanced with Her-Vaxx and B-Vaxx.

Key-Vaxx is in pre-clinical. If the proof of concept is successful, companies like GSK might like to move early in the new paradigm, considering that last time they missed out.