The combination of the experimental Nektar Therapeutics cancer drug and Bristol Myers Squibb’s blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Opdivo didn’t work in melanoma. There are now data that it also doesn’t work in bladder and kidney cancers.
BMS and Nektar Announce The clinical trial failed after the market closed on Thursday. The companies said they jointly decided to halt all other projects testing the drug combination, a move that spells the end of their research alliance.
Nektar’s drug bemegaldesleukin (bempeg) is an engineered cytokine, a signaling protein that promotes immune responses. Bempeg is Nektar’s version of a cytokine called interleukin 2 (IL-2). The San Francisco company designed the drug to selectively activate the IL-2 pathway without triggering the activity of regulatory T cells, a different type of immune cell that suppresses the immune response. In 2018, Bristol-Myers Squibb committed $1.8 billion to launch a research partnership to test the pharma giant’s Opdivo in combination with bempeg. It is hoped that the pairing of this Nektar drug with Opdivo will provide better outcomes for patients.
Last month, a melanoma study reported the first key data. Nektar CEO Howard Robin said on a conference call at the time that patients treated with Opdivo alone showed results consistent with previous studies. However, Nektar drug provided no additional benefit in patients treated with Opdivo plus bempeg.
In kidney cancer data reported on Thursday, the results were also less than satisfactory. The companies said an analysis by an independent data monitoring committee found that the drug combination did not achieve statistical significance in showing objective responses compared with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, the standard treatment for this type of cancer. The drug combination also did not achieve statistical significance in measures of overall survival.
In a separate phase 2 clinical trial in advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, a type of bladder cancer, BMS and Nektar said the analysis found that the combination of bempeg and Opdivo did not show sufficient efficacy to support the continuation of the study. The companies said they plan to review data from both studies and share them with the scientific community.
The drug combination is also being tested in a pivotal study in muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a Phase 1/2 study as a first-line treatment for renal cell carcinoma, and a Phase 1/2 study in relapsed and/or refractory pediatric tumors. All studies testing the combination of bempeg and Opdivo will be halted in the coming months to allow clinical trial participants to consult with their physicians about switching to standard-of-care treatment.
Image via Flickr user Nicholson path through Creative Commons license
