#ESMO24: Sun, surprises and new summits at Europe’s biggest cancer conference

BARCELONA — More than 33,000 oncologists, medical researchers, biopharma leaders and other delegates attended Europe’s largest cancer meeting over the past few days in Spain, with more than 181 countries represented.

It was the European Society for Medical Oncology’s second consecutive year in the country. The sun shined every day this time, though, unlike last year’s cloudy and rainy vibes in Madrid.

The perfect weather served as a good backdrop for the 10th anniversary of immunotherapies’ role in saving and prolonging the lives of cancer patients. A decade after that initial I/O class launched, the medicines are still making impacts in new areas, with the world’s top-selling drug, Merck’s Keytruda, still the subject of a few presidential symposiums at this year’s ESMO.

Questions remain about the longer-term future of Keytruda — though a looming subcutaneous form could prolong its tenure — as Summit Therapeutics’ partner Akeso presented more data on its antibody ivonescimab that beat Merck’s megablockbuster in a head-to-head trial in China. The data have sparked a surge in interest for VEGF approaches, giving a leg up to Covid standout BioNTech and a little biotech known as Instil Bio. Speaking of BioNTech, a new study also showed that Covid mRNA vaccines may help boost the effects of immunotherapy in cancer patients.

Some attendees remarked that they were expecting this year’s ESMO to be a little quiet, at least compared to last year’s buzzy confab, when antibody-drug conjugates stole the show and radiopharmaceuticals had a few key readouts.

But the congress ended up having its moments. While this year’s edition unfolded with no major deals, a few studies invigorated the delegates. That included one discussant’s claims of researchers “cherry-picking” patients in an analysis on a LAG-3 drug; GSK and iTeos breathing some life back into the TIGIT field; and Pfizer saying it will move into Phase 3 with an experimental drug for cancer cachexia, a common wasting condition that has no approved treatments.

And the ESMO president unveiled the society’s newest side conference: an AI and Digital Oncology meeting that will kick off next year.

Below are some more on-the-ground highlights of ESMO, which took place at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via. For the medical practitioners and drug developers who double as architecture buffs, this year’s venue had a much prettier facade than the 2023 meeting in Madrid.

A decade in, immunotherapy is getting harder: Regeneron’s Izzy Lowy told Endpoints News that in immunotherapy, “we’ve gotten the low-hanging fruit, and now the challenge is building on that.” He added that the company’s strategy is to take multiple different approaches and combinations to get results. Regeneron presented longer follow-up data to its Opdualag challenger, a combination of Libtayo and LAG-3 antibody fianlimab, in melanoma.

Separate booths for AbbVie and ImmunoGen: Despite closing the $10 billion acquisition seven months ago, the companies still had individual booths — and on opposite sides of the massive hall. In an interview, AbbVie leaders highlighted the “talent wars” going on in the crowded ADC field, but they believe quality will attract workers. The company stressed the importance of taking a biomarker approach to clinical development.

Coffee: It was everywhere, and the whole venue smelled like it. At least the cups weren’t American-sized ones.

Standing O? Not this year: There was no get-up-and-clap moment like last year’s thunderous applause for a Padcev-Keytruda win in first-line bladder cancer.

Novartis’ Apple Vision Pros: The Swiss pharma giant let attendees test out the eye tech so they could see a virtualization of a cancer patient receiving its radioligand therapy. The drugmaker also had a display with a fictionalized newspaper named “KISQALI TODAY,” with the headlines “No news is good news” and “Data worth sharing” for its breast cancer drug.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s big booth: The family-owned German drugmaker had a relatively sizable booth after years of buying up small cancer biotechs and fleshing out its pipeline. Boehringer’s global head of oncology Itziar Canamasas told Endpoints that the company is investing about €1 billion in oncology R&D a year. Boehringer declined to confirm this number after the interview.

Food, food, food: Kyle from Chicago appreciated the smell of pizza in between halls, thanks to a food truck with a small pizza oven. Attendees could also grab tapas from a little eatery named Mosquito (for “exotic” bites). There were green and healthy stands as well.

Purple, but doomy press area: A vibrant purple carpet, about a block in length, welcomed visitors to the press area, but some interview spaces gave off interrogation room vibes thanks to their gray and exposed cinder block walls.

Daiichi once again sponsored the conference WiFi: The Japan-based ADC behemoth sponsored last year’s ESMO wireless internet. The company’s booth was across from Merck, or MSD as it’s known here. The two became partners at the start of last year’s conference in a multibillion-dollar deal.

Never enough chairs: The conferences must be doing this on purpose.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to note that Boehringer declined to confirm how much it invests in oncology R&D.