New advances in cervical cancer immunotherapy The BLA of batilimumab was granted priority review by the FDA

Recently, Agenus announced that the FDA has accepted its PD-1 monoclonal antibody balstilimab (batilimumab) to treat recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer that has progressed during or after chemotherapy a biological product license application (BLA).

Balstilimab (Batilimumab) is a new fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) developed by Agenus.

The balstilimab BLA is based on the updated data published at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) online conference in 2020 and published in the Oncogene journal, including data from a key phase II single-arm clinical trial.

In June 2020, Betta Pharmaceuticals and Agenus reached a cooperation agreement to obtain the rights and interests of balstilimab and CTLA-4 antibody Zalifrelimab in Greater China

Cervical cancer immunotherapy has been approved, and there are many in research

Cervical cancer originates from cervical cells and is one of the most common gynecological malignancies.

Immunotherapy is a new method of treating cancer, which relies on the ability of the immune system to directly recognize and kill tumor cells

In addition to balstilimab and Keytruda, there are a number of PD-1 monoclonal antibodies under development around the world that have been developed for the treatment of cervical cancer, such as Libtayo (cemiplimab), carrelizumab, sintilimab, and nivolumab, etc.

In addition, anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies (such as IBI310, zalifrelimab) and anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibodies (such as Tiragolumab, BGB-A1217) have also been developed for the treatment of cervical cancer

In addition to the monoclonal antibodies mentioned above, targeting bispecific antibodies such as PD-1/CTLA-4, PDL1/TGF-β, etc.

Not only immunotherapy has made certain progress in the field of cervical cancer, but new therapies like antibody-conjugated drugs (ADC) have also made considerable progress in the field of cervical cancer.