AstraZeneca's tremelimumab triple therapy has significant efficacy in the first-line treatment of stage IV NSCLC

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After many failures of AstraZeneca tremelimumab, this CTLA4 inhibitor finally helped Imfinzi, an anti-PD-L1 therapy, to achieve an important victory in non-small cell lung cancer.

On Friday, AstraZeneca stated that the addition of Imfinzi and tremelimumab to chemotherapy can significantly prolong the lives of patients newly diagnosed with stage IV or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

AstraZeneca plans to release detailed data at an upcoming medical conference.

Currently, Merck’s Keytruda+ chemotherapy combination has become the standard treatment for first-line non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer competition

In the fall of 2019, AstraZeneca disclosed for the first time that the POSEIDON trial reached one of the common primary endpoints and significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS).

In contrast, Merck’s landmark KEYNOTE-189 trial achieved two efficacy indicators in the interim analysis: delaying disease progression and improving survival.

Tim Anderson pointed out that after these studies, Merck has become a clear market leader and is in a near monopoly position in first-line non-small cell lung cancer.

Trial record of tremelimumab

Since the fall of 2019, tremelimumab's track record has not given industry observers much confidence.

Then, the CASPIAN trial showed that adding tremelimumab to Imfinzi+ standard chemotherapy did not have any additional survival benefits for patients with first-line extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

In addition, Imfinzi with or without tremelimumab has recently failed in the first-line treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

In terms of non-small cell lung cancer, in July 2017, the combination of Imfinzi+tremelimumab failed to reach the primary endpoint of delaying disease progression in the MYSTIC trial closely watched by the industry.

At present, AstraZeneca will discuss the next steps with the POSEIDON test data with regulatory agencies.

Reference source: AstraZeneca's lagging IO drug tremelimumab finally pulls through with Imfinzi combo score in lung cancer