AstraZeneca laid out a blueprint to shift the cancer treatment paradigm with "precision medicine" and "next-generation immunotherapy" as its pillars. Osama Rama, executive vice president and global head of clinical strategy at AstraZeneca, said at ESMO Asia 2025 in Singapore on the 6th (local time), "Cancer cannot be subdued with a single approach," adding, "We will maximize treatment efficacy with a combination strategy that targets multiple markers at the same time." The plan is to analyze the characteristics of a patient's cancer cells and deliver personalized treatment that aims at multiple targets simultaneously.
Rama said, "Going forward, choosing therapies based on genetic and protein alterations in cancer cells rather than the organ where the cancer originated will become commonplace," and explained, "Targeted therapies that precisely aim at specific markers and antibody-drug conjugion (ADC) medicines will be at the center of this shift." AstraZeneca currently has next-generation candidates aimed at various targets, including Claudin18.2 and HER2, in clinical development.
It will also further diversify its immuno-oncology strategy. The aim is to activate the immune system more deeply and broadly to achieve stronger and more durable anticancer effects. Rama said, "A single immuno-oncology drug has limited efficacy," adding, "Combination immunotherapy that activates immune responses simultaneously from multiple directions, as well as bispecific antibodies, will become the standard of care."
The timing of intervention is also shifting from a "late-stage focus" to the "early stage." He emphasized, "If we intervene after cancer has advanced significantly, it only slightly extends survival, but if we treat at an early stage, a cure can be expected," adding, "AstraZeneca's clinical development strategy will be comprehensively reorganized to focus on Early Disease going forward."
Based on this strategy, AstraZeneca aims to launch 10 anticancer drugs by 2030. Rama said, "We are expanding various combination strategies on the foundation of the immuno-oncology drug IMFINZI (ingredient: durvalumab), which has already become a standard treatment in several cancers," and predicted, "By 2030, 1 in 3 liver and biliary tract cancer patients and 1 in 7 stomach cancer patients will benefit from AstraZeneca's treatments."
He added, "Future cancer care will center on three pillars: precision targeted therapy, combination strategies in immunotherapy, and early intervention," noting, "In particular, because Asia has a high incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, the center of gravity in clinical development will naturally shift to Asia."