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GSK's ICOS Agonist Disappointment Another Setback For Anticancer Ambitions

Feladilimab Phase II Combination Study With Keytruda Halted

15 Apr 2021

• By John Davis

GlaxoSmithKline has discontinued treatment with its ICOS agonist feladilimab in the Phase II INDUCE-3 trial upon the recommendation of the study’s data monitoring committee, another setback for the big pharma’s plans to become a major force in the cancer therapy area.

gloomy autumn day — A Disappointing Day For GSK • Source: Shutterstock

Developing anticancer drugs that act as ICOS agonists has notable promise as a fruitful research strategy, but clinical trials with one of the leading investigational candidates with this mode of action, GlaxoSmithKline plce’s feladilimab, have been halted by the company, casting a shadow over the field.

The setback is a second blow to GSK’s ambitions to return to the cancer marketplace in recent times, after it...