iTeos Therapeutics will set aside inupadenant following lackluster mid-stage data in non-small cell lung cancer. The company will focus on its TIGIT therapies instead, with its
recent positive data
bringing life to a struggling space.
Results of the Phase 2 trial assessing the adenosine A2A antagonist plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy in post-immunotherapy metastatic NSCLC
were presented
at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress in Geneva on Thursday. The topline data concerned 36 patients from the open-label dose-finding portion of the study who were evaluable at an Oct. 29 cutoff.
The secondary endpoint of objective response rate was 63.9% across all patients and 73.3% at the highest dose of 80 mg twice daily. In a real-world NSCLC study assessing various post-checkpoint inhibitor chemo regimens, platinum-doublet therapy achieved an ORR of 66.7%, indicating that inupadenant adds little to the cheap drugs already available.
Meanwhile, progression-free survival, another secondary goal, was 7.7 months in all patients, with mPFS not reached at the highest dose after a minimum follow-up of six months. Six-month PFS was 64.6% among patients on the 80 mg dose.
The limited efficacy signal seen “does not meet sufficient level of clinical activity to warrant further investment,” iTeos CEO Michel Detheux said in a statement. The drug showed decent tolerability, with no dose-dependent toxicities, hitting the primary endpoint.
Its share price
$ITOS
dropped 4%.
Data from a
Phase 3 trial
of iTeos’s TIGIT, belrestotug on top of GSK’s Jemperli in NSCLC, are highly anticipated. According to Leerink analysts, iTeos management believes that
positive combo results
reported in September from the Phase 2 GALAXIES trial mean it could become the “industry’s leading TIGIT/PD-1 doublet.”