Roche's divarasib beats rivals in lung cancer trial

Lung cancer caused by a specific gene mutation, called KRAS G12C, already has two approved drugs. On Sunday, Roche said its own drug beat both of them. In a head-to-head trial, Roche's divarasib cut the risk of death by 44%. It beat Amgen's Lumakras and Bristol Myers Squibb's Krazati, both already-approved drugs for the same cancer. Roche presented the results at ESMO, Europe's biggest cancer conference, in Madrid.

This isn't just a bigger number on a chart. For patients, a 44% lower risk of death is a real, meaningful difference, not a marginal improvement. The two drugs it beat, Lumakras and Krazati, are themselves relatively new to the market. For decades before either existed, KRAS mutations were considered impossible to treat with a drug at all. Now Roche is trying to leapfrog both of them before either fully settles into becoming the standard of care.

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Will divarasib actually become the new standard treatment? Roche still has to file for regulatory approval, and that process can take a year or more. Doctors will also want to see how divarasib performs for patients who haven't been treated yet. Right now the data only covers people who relapsed once already. If it clears those hurdles, it could reset who gets picked first for this specific, hard-to-treat kind of lung cancer.