Run of good form puts novel checkpoint blocker back in spotlight

15 October 2021

British drugmaker AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has reported positive high-level results from the Phase III HIMALAYA trial, testing a combination of in-house checkpoint blockers.

The firm is evaluating the impact of a single, high priming dose of its novel CTLA-4 targeting antibody tremelimumab, followed by Imfinzi (durvalumab), in the first-line treatment of liver cancer.

Despite previous mixed results from its development program, interest in tremelimumab was revived earlier in 2021, with data from the POSEIDON trial suggesting it could be used to boost efficacy in the highly significant front-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) setting.

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