Mali Barbi, Medical Oncologist at Northwell Health, shared a post on X:
“Today’s $2B upfront Novartis deal for Synnovation’s mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor is a clear signal: the industry is doubling down on “triplets” to fix the toxicity of the past.
But while we add more drugs to “salvage” failing regimens, we are still missing the most important piece: timing.
Pfizer’s atirmociclib results (HR 0.60, p=0.0007) this week prove a 40% risk reduction is possible even after a prior CDK4/6 failure. The pathway isn’t dead; our tools were just too blunt. Simply adding more drugs to a failing line is reactive medicine. The BioItaLEE trial (Bianchini et al.) established my “One-Month Rule”: ctDNA clearance by Cycle 2 Day 1 (C2D1) is a robust prognostic marker (HR 0.44).
But here is the gap: we are currently just reporting on failure.
To lead, we must move from prognosis to prediction. We have the next-gen tools and the 30-day window; now we need to randomize the Molecular Switch at C2D1 to prove that intervening early actually improves survival, rather than just providing a faster map of progression.”
Novartis pays Synnovation $2B upfront for breast cancer program as rivals circle
Other articles featuring Mali Barbi on OncoDaily.