GSK sees blockbuster potential in targeted cancer therapy after promising early data

* Early data shows GSK's drug helps shrink ​tumors in ⁠hard to treat ovarian and endometrial cancers

* Oncology ​R&D head points to faster development pace under new CEO Luke Miels

* GSK to move ahead with ​five ‌late-stage trials for the drug

LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK's experimental targeted cancer drug ⁠Mo-rez has blockbuster potential, its head of oncology ⁠research has told reporters, after early data ​showed the drug helped shrink tumors in patients with advanced, hard-to-treat cancers.

"This is one of our priority assets at this stage," GSK's Hesham Abdullah said on a call ​with journalists ‌discussing the early data, which is being presented at a medical conference in Puerto Rico on Sunday.

"Do we think it would be a blockbuster? Yes, absolutely," GSK's Hesham Abdullah said on the call.

Initial results measured the proportion of patients who achieved ​a meaningful reduction in tumor size, defined as at least a 30% shrinkage. In ‌platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, 62% of patients met that threshold, while 67% did so in endometrial cancer.

DATA GIVE MOMENTUM TO GSK'S ‌ONCOLOGY BUSINESS

Analysts have not yet projected future sales for mo-rez given early trial data.

The data give momentum to GSK's fast-growing oncology business. CEO Luke Miels, who started in ​the role in January, has said the company will speed up work on new medicines, a shift Abdullah ‌said is already being reflected in its product development.

"I think it has been reflected in the type of pace that you are seeing and the type of conviction ⁠that we ⁠have in our programmes moving forward," he added.

GSK is ‌testing Mo-rez in two late-stage trials in ovarian and endometrial cancers and plans to start three additional studies ​in coming months.

Mo-rez, ​an antibody-drug conjugate, targets the B7H4 protein found on gynaecological ‌cancer cells but is largely absent from healthy tissue. The market for ADC treatments is projected to reach $31 billion by 2030.

GSK licensed the drug from China's Hansoh Pharma in 2023. (Reporting by Bhanvi Satija; Editing by David Holmes)

Glaxosmithkline