Inside Gilead's Oncology Vision: Dr. Dietmar Berger Shares His Perspective With SurvivorNet
- SurvivorNet invited Gilead Sciences’ Chief Medical Officer to share his views on enabling new medications for cancer patients.
- Dr. Berger is a strong believer in the next wave of benefit of cell therapies and the more targeted treatments called antibody-drug conjugates which deliver small doses of medicine intended to kill cancer cells without harming normal cells.
- Gilead Oncology is perhaps best known for pioneering Trodelvy, a groundbreaking antibody-drug conjugate that helped redefine treatment options for patients with hard-to-treat metastatic breast cancer.
- If you have questions you want answered, check out SurvivorNet’s proprietary AI tool “My Health Questions,” designed specifically for patients and caregivers.
Dr. Dietmar Berger, Chief Medical Officer of U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, sat down with SurvivorNet to discuss how the company’s next phase of growth will be measured by its ability to deliver more effective therapies that improve patient outcomes, including better long-term disease management and, in some cases, potentially a cure.
Read MoreDr. Berger notes that Gilead’s cell therapies are already delivering strong outcomes in blood cancers such as lymphoma, with patients experiencing long-term disease control and, in some cases, possible cures. Even with recent major successes, Gilead, like many drugmakers has faced setback for drug programs that have not worked.
He says the company is now aiming at bringing those same kinds of benefits to other cancers, such as multiple myeloma through new therapies in development, in addition to solid tumors using antibody-drug conjugates [ADCs], which Dr. Berger describes as “an entirely new construct that we want to bring into the clinical reality.”
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Gilead is expanding its cell therapy portfolio with a focus on moving treatments into earlier lines of therapy and exploring a broader range of disease areas, Dr. Berger says.
Dr. Berger notes that using these therapies earlier in treatment and expanding them into additional disease areas may provide greater patient benefit while also reaching more people.
While cell therapies are already established in certain forms of lymphoma, Gilead is now identifying encouraging potential for their use in multiple myeloma, another significant blood cancer.
“But we also think that cell therapies can have a role beyond that, for example, in solid tumors. And we we’re also evaluating cell therapies, for example, in inflammatory and neuroinflammatory conditions, cell therapies as a therapeutic modality and a principle can have applications across a wider range of diseases. And that’s where we think a real opportunity for us and for patients lines.”
Gilead believes antibody-drug conjugates [ADCs]—a type of targeted cancer therapy—can be used in many more cancers than they are today, not just the ones currently approved or commonly treated, says Dr. Berger.
Dr. Berger says ADCs already used in some cancers, like breast cancer, are believed to have much broader potential across additional tumor types.
He adds that Gilead is studying both new and existing ADCs, including Trodelvy, in harder-to-treat cancers like ovarian, lung, and endometrial cancer, while also using them earlier in treatment and studying them in more cancer types beyond what they are currently approved for.
Dr. Berger says the company’s flagship breast cancer drug Trodelvy has shown strong results in early treatment of triple-negative breast cancer, significantly delaying disease progression, further adding that longer-term data suggest lasting benefits.
“That demonstrates that Trodelvy should be a backbone in the first line treatment of triple negative breast cancer,” explained Dr. Berger, referencing his view that the drug, which has traditionally been used in some types of pre-treated breast cancer, should now be used as a first treatment.
He also tells us that making early effective therapy especially important as triple-negative breast cancer is very aggressive.
Dr. Berger concluded, with hope after the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, “Many diseases that basically were death sentences a few years ago now become chronic conditions. And for some of the decisions that are chronic, now we are starting to talk about how can we cure those patients.
“And we see that, for example, at Gilead, where we can contribute also with our ADC [antibody-drug conjugates] portfolio, with our cell therapy portfolio. And we are really excited to contribute to that over here.”
Questions To Ask Your Doctor
If you have a cancer screening coming up or have recently had one, you may have questions you want answered. SurvivorNet’s proprietary AI tool “My Health Questions” is designed specifically for patients and caregivers.
WATCH: How One Cancer Survivor and Her Sister Used “My Health Questions” to Navigate Care
This powerful resource is embedded across the SurvivorNet website and delivers structured responses grounded in clinical guidelines and medically reviewed research to help people better understand their treatment options and feel more confident navigating care.
My Health Questions can also help patients come up with useful questions ahead of their next appointment.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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