GSK, iTeos lung cancer drug outperforms Jemperli (NASDAQ:ITOS)

iTeos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ITOS) announced Saturday that its experimental cancer doublet therapy developed with GSK (NYSE:GSK) outperformed the British drugmaker’s FDA-approved anti-PD-1 therapy dostarlimab, branded as Jemperli, in a mid-stage trial.

Citing follow-up interim data generated from the study named GALAXIES Lung-201 trial, iTeos (ITOS) said that the experimental combo led to a confirmed objective response rate of about 60% at every dose compared to 28.1% for dostarlimab alone.

GALAXIES Lung-201 evaluates new immunotherapy combinations against single-agent immunotherapies such as Merck’s (MRK) Keytruda and Jemperli as a first-line option in patients with PD-L1 high non-small cell lung cancer.

The readout presented on Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress included data from those who received dostarlimab with belrestotug.

A monoclonal antibody developed by GSK (GSK) and iTeos (ITOS) belrestotug is designed to target a cancer-causing molecule called T cell immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domains (TIGIT).

As for safety, the TIGIT: PD-1 doublet compared to dostarlimab monotherapy led to a higher incidence of immune-related adverse events, which were manageable, the company said.

iTeos (ITOS) added that the readout backs its recent decision to begin GALAXIES Lung-301, a global Phase 3 registration trial designed to assess the drug combo in the same setting.

Other developers of anti-TIGIT therapies include Compugen (CGEN), Arcus Biosciences (RCUS), Mereo BioPharma, Merck (MRK), and Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) (OTCQX:RHHBF).