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.

BioNTech's personalised vaccine, notable for a small pancreatic cancer study where vaccine responders stayed cancer-free for years.

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.

The first drug to starve tumours of blood vessels. Approved in 2004 for bowel cancer, it remains a standard partner for chemotherapy in many cancers and is the add-on that makes late-line pills work better.

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

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.

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

Obinutuzumab is a supercharged CD20 antibody that, paired with venetoclax for one year, gives many CLL patients years off all treatment.

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.

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.

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.