RAS (Rat Sarcoma Virus) Market: Competitive Landscape, Pipeline, and Market Analysis 2023

RAS (Rat Sarcoma Virus) is a viral oncogene that plays a crucial role in the development of certain cancers. It is a mutated form of the RAS gene found in rats, and its mechanism of action involves the activation of signaling pathways that promote cell growth and division. RAS is primarily associated with various cancer indications, including colorectal cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and melanoma. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, with approximately 1.93 million new cases reported in 2020. In Europe, there were an estimated 494,000 new cases of colorectal cancer, while the United States witnessed around 147,950 new cases in the same year Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally, with approximately 1.80 million deaths reported in 2020. In Europe, lung cancer accounted for 430,000 deaths, while the United States reported around 135,720 deaths due to lung cancer in the same year. Pancreatic cancer has a particularly poor prognosis, with a five-year survival rate of around 10%. In the United States, pancreatic cancer accounted for an estimated 60,430 new cases and 48,220 deaths in 2020, as reported by the American Cancer Society.

Growth drivers of the RAS market include the need for effective targeted therapies against RAS-driven cancers and the continuous investment in research and development efforts to unravel the complexities of RAS biology and develop novel treatment approaches. Companies such as Novartis, Amgen, Mirati, Immunitybio, Innoviva, Golden Biotechnology, Genfleet Therap, Jacobio Pharma, and Roche cater to this category. Moreover, many companies are coming up with new molecules in this space. For instance, Innovia is currently conducting a clinical trial of the drug LJPC-501 for the treatment of leukemia.

Key Developments

• In May 2023, Novartis Pharmaceuticals completed a phase-II trial of Rydapt in Acute myeloid leukemia in Hong Kong, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.
• In Oct 2020, Amgen presented safety and efficacy data from a phase Ib/II CodeBreak 101 trial of Lumykras in solid tumors at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO-2023).

Approved RAS Molecules

• Rydapt (midostaurin)
• Lumakras (sotorasib)
• Estybon (rigosertib)
• Krazati (adagrasib)

RAS Pipeline Molecules

• Giapreza (LJPC-501)
• GFH925
• glecirasib (JAB-21822)
• opnurasib (JDQ443)
• divarasib (RG6330)
• D-1553
• JAB-3312
• LY3537982
• diazepinomicin (AMO-01)
• ELI-002
• PRLX 93936
• library TCR-T-cell therapy
• perillyl alcohol (NEO100)      

Clinical Activity and Development of RAS

In the RAS space, more than 20 companies are conducting more than 400 clinical trials in this category of drugs. For instance,

• In Dec 2022, Novartis presented pharmacodynamics and efficacy data from a phase II trial of Rydapt in acute myeloid leukemia at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH-Hem-2022)
• In June 2023, Novartis presented efficacy data from the phase iii unify trial Rydapt in acute myeloid leukemia at the 27th Congress of the European Haematology Association (EHA-2022)