STAT Plus: GSK took a leap of faith on PARP inhibitors in cancer. It may pay off
When GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) purchased Tesaro for $5 billion last December, one of the company’s big arguments in favor of the deal was that Tesaro’s lead drug, Zejula, would be useful in many more cancers than investors expected.
Zejula, like Lynparza from AstraZeneca and Merck, inhibits an enzyme called PARP, which is involved in repairing DNA. So far, it has proved useful mainly in cancers that are caused by mutations in the BRCA gene, the same one that causes breast and ovarian cancer. But Glaxo argued that there are cancers where Zejula would work, which also means a larger group of patients.
Continue to STAT Plus to read the full story…
