Roche / Genentech

The first targeted antibody for a solid tumour (1998), which turned HER2-positive breast cancer from the worst subtype into one of the most treatable.

Trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla, T-DM1) was the first ADC for a solid tumour (2013). It is still standard after surgery for HER2+ breast cancer patients whose tumour did not fully respond to pre-surgery treatment.

A PD-L1 blocker used in lung, liver, and bladder cancer. In 2026 it became the first drug approved based on a blood test showing leftover cancer after bladder surgery.

Glofitamab is a fixed-duration bispecific for large B-cell lymphoma, with OS benefit when combined with chemotherapy.

Inavolisib is a PI3K drug that also destroys the mutant protein, approved in 2024 with palbociclib and fulvestrant for PIK3CA-mutant breast cancer.

A pill that removes the survival shield from leukaemia cells, enabling chemotherapy-free, time-limited treatment for CLL.

Autogene cevumeran is BioNTech and Genentech's personalised mRNA vaccine encoding each patient's own tumour neoantigens. In a small phase 1 in resected pancreatic cancer, half of patients mounted T-cell responses and stayed free of recurrence far longer; phase 2 IMCODE003 tests whether that holds.

Ipatasertib is an experimental small-molecule drug from Hoffmann-La Roche in phase 3 trials for HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer and ovarian cancer, aimed at AKT.

Cevostamab is an experimental investigational agent whose form is not stated in the registry from Hoffmann-La Roche in phase 3 trials for multiple myeloma, with its target not yet stated publicly.

Emactuzumab is an experimental monoclonal antibody from SynOx Therapeutics in phase 3 trials for tenosynovial giant cell tumour, aimed at CSF1R.

RO7771950 is an experimental small-molecule drug from Hoffmann-La Roche in phase 3 trials for HER2-positive breast cancer and HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer, aimed at HER2.

ADG126 is an experimental monoclonal antibody from Adagene in phase 2 trials for hepatocellular carcinoma, aimed at CTLA-4.

Englumafusp alfa is an experimental fusion protein from Hoffmann-La Roche in phase 2 trials for hodgkin lymphoma, aimed at CD19.

The vitamin-A derivative that made acute promyelocytic leukaemia the first cancer cured by differentiation therapy rather than by killing cells.

Interferon alfa was the first biologic cancer drug (1986). It treated hairy cell leukaemia, CML, melanoma, kidney cancer and Kaposi sarcoma, and has been replaced almost everywhere by better-tolerated agents.

Alectinib is a well-tolerated ALK pill, standard first line for years and, since 2024, the first targeted therapy given after surgery for ALK-positive lung cancer.

Bevacizumab is a humanised antibody that soaks up VEGF-A, the signal tumours use to grow new blood vessels. Approved in 2004, it partners chemotherapy in colorectal, ovarian, cervical, lung, kidney and liver cancer and glioblastoma, and adds to trifluridine/tipiracil in late-line bowel cancer; hypertension, protein in the urine and bleeding are its characteristic side effects.

A blood-vessel-blocking antibody that shrinks glioblastoma on scans and reduces swelling, but has never been shown to help patients live longer.

Capecitabine (Xeloda) is a tablet form of the chemotherapy fluorouracil. It is a backbone of treatment for bowel cancer and a standard option in advanced breast cancer.

The lung cancer gene test that became the first blood-based companion diagnostic the FDA ever approved.

Cobimetinib is the MEK partner for vemurafenib, and the first drug approved for histiocytic neoplasms.

Divarasib is Roche's KRAS G12C pill, the first to beat the two approved KRAS drugs head-to-head (July 2026).

Entrectinib (Rozlytrek) is a pill for NTRK-fusion cancers and ROS1 lung cancer that reaches brain metastases.

Erlotinib was one of the first EGFR pills for lung cancer; it was approved before anyone knew EGFR mutations predicted who would respond, then redefined by them.

Giredestrant is Roche's oral SERD: it failed to beat an aromatase inhibitor in first-line metastatic disease but succeeded after surgery and after CDK4/6 failure.

The tests that grade a breast or stomach cancer's HER2 level, from the original trastuzumab test in 1998 to the new 'HER2-low' and 'ultralow' cut-offs.

Ibandronic acid (Bondronat) is a bisphosphonate available in Europe as a monthly infusion or daily tablet to prevent fractures and other bone complications in women with breast cancer that has spread to bone, and to treat cancer-related high calcium.

Mosunetuzumab is a fixed-duration CD20 bispecific approved for follicular lymphoma and studied with polatuzumab in large B-cell lymphoma.

Obinutuzumab is a glycoengineered CD20 antibody that recruits immune cells and kills B cells more directly than rituximab. Paired with venetoclax for a fixed 12 months in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, it keeps over half of patients treatment-free six years later, and it is also used in follicular lymphoma; first-dose infusion reactions are common and managed by splitting the dose.

A second HER2 antibody that binds a different spot from trastuzumab, blocking HER2 from pairing with HER3; together they extended survival by 16 months in CLEOPATRA.

Polatuzumab vedotin is an ADC against CD79b that, swapped into the classic R-CHOP regimen, became the first improvement on frontline lymphoma therapy in twenty years.

Rituximab was the first antibody ever approved for cancer (1997). It made chemoimmunotherapy the CLL standard for a decade, and biosimilars keep it cheap and everywhere.

An immune-brake blocker that looked excellent in a phase 2 lung cancer trial and then failed every phase 3.

Tocilizumab (Actemra) is a rheumatoid arthritis antibody that has become the rescue drug for cytokine release syndrome, the fever and blood-pressure crash that CAR-T cells and bispecific antibodies can trigger. Every CAR-T centre must have it on hand.

Vemurafenib was the first BRAF inhibitor (2011); it shrank melanomas in weeks and proved that a single mutation could be drugged in a solid tumour.

A four-stain test that shows whether a womb cancer has lost its DNA spell-checker, which makes immunotherapy likely to work.

The PD-L1 stain that decides who can have atezolizumab, scored on immune cells rather than tumour cells in breast cancer.

The VENTANA SP263 assay is an immunohistochemistry stain that measures PD-L1 on tumour cells. Approved in 2017 alongside durvalumab in bladder cancer, it became the companion test in 2021 for adjuvant atezolizumab in resected lung cancer with PD-L1 on at least 1% of tumour cells, and it agrees closely with 22C3, so laboratories often validate it as a single platform.

Vismodegib was the first hedgehog-pathway drug, for basal cell carcinomas too advanced for surgery; it shrinks most tumours but muscle cramps, taste loss and hair loss make long-term use hard.