ASCO 2019 preview: Big Pharmas looking for cancer R&D revival as we hit next-gen crossroads

It’s that time of year again, when the big and the small come together to shout about (or try to quietly hide) their latest cancer data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

The last few years, if we’re honest, have not created the most exciting sets of oncology data we’ve ever seen. We’re at something of a crossroads: A few years back, we had the late-stage results from checkpoint inhibitors showing us their promise, and then we had the rise of cell therapies in the form of Gilead Sciences' (nee Kite Pharma) and Novartis’ chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies.