India Pharma Outlook Team | Friday, 04 September 2026
From MedGenome to AbbVie, the global race to outpace cancer moved on several fronts in a single stretch of news.
An Indian diagnostics firm launched a personalized blood test to detect residual disease. A Chinese drugmaker licensed an experimental solid-tumour candidate to a major British group.
An American biotech reported stronger survival data in a blood-cancer trial. An Indian company secured US rights to a biosimilar of the world’s top-selling immunotherapy.
These advances span detection, targeted therapy, survival outcomes and affordability. Together they show that oncology innovation now travels across borders with unusual speed and reach.
MedGenome has launched OncoTrack MRD, a personalized, tumor-informed molecular residual disease test. The firm designs the assay from each patient’s own tumor tissue and analyses circulating tumor DNA in the blood. The test detects and measures residual cancer, identifies potential recurrence earlier than conventional methods, and supports treatment decisions.
Clinicians can order the test multiple times a year. It enables monitoring of relapse throughout the course of care and supplies insights into residual disease and treatment response. The company makes the test available nationwide with home sample collection. Earlier detection of molecular residual disease can change the timing of intervention and give physicians a clearer view of risk before clinical relapse appears.
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HUTCHMED (China) has signed a licensing deal with a GSK subsidiary for its experimental solid-tumor drug HMPL-A830. GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 4) Ltd will pay USD 110 million upfront. The HUTCHMED subsidiary remains eligible for additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to about USD 1.2 billion.
GSK receives rights to develop and commercialize HMPL-A830 outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Clinical development will focus initially on colorectal, pancreatic and lung cancer indications. A Phase I program is expected to start in the second half of 2026. Solid tumors remain among the most difficult cancers to treat, and the deal expands the pipeline of experimental options aimed at these indications.
AbbVie reports that its blood-cancer therapy etentamig has met the main goals of a late-stage trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The therapy produced an objective response rate of 74 per cent, compared with 45.7 per cent for standard treatments chosen by trial investigators. It also reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 60 per cent.
Key results from the 393-patient trial include:
The data strengthen AbbVie’s oncology credentials at a time when the company is expanding beyond its traditional immunology franchise. Analysts note that the therapy may prove especially useful as an additional option after CAR-T cell therapy, given its immediate availability and monthly administration.
Cipla has in-licensed exclusive US commercial rights to Qilu Pharmaceutical’s QL2107, a biosimilar of pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Qilu will handle development, regulatory registration, supply, and Cipla will oversee commercialization in the United States. The financial terms remain undisclosed.
Keytruda, marketed by Merck, recorded more than USD 31 billion in sales in 2025 and holds approvals in more than 40 indications. As the brand approaches its patent cliff, multiple companies are preparing lower-cost biosimilar alternatives.
Cipla’s Achin Gupta and Marc Falkin describe the deal as part of a strategy to build a strong oncology-focused portfolio and to help patients access treatment at lower cost, subject to regulatory approvals. The agreement also marks Cipla’s second licensing pact with a Chinese drugmaker in a week.
In a short span, the cancer-care chain advanced on four distinct links: earlier molecular detection in India, a solid-tumour licensing deal spanning China and the UK, stronger survival data from a US blood-cancer trial, and a biosimilar pathway aimed at US affordability.
The geographic spread illustrates a maturing global oncology ecosystem. Companies now race not only to invent new therapies but also to detect disease sooner, target it more precisely, improve survival odds, and bring costs down. The concurrent progress from MedGenome to AbbVie shows how comprehensively that race is being run.
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