ASCO Offers Glimpse Of LAG-3 Inhibitors’ Potential Opportunities – And Limitations

New data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting is helping to fill in the picture on LAG-3 inhibitors and validate the immune checkpoint as an immuno-oncology target with potential in several cancers – but there is still uncertainty over where these drugs will fit in the oncology landscape. While some experts see less activity for anti-PD-1/LAG-3 than anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 strategies in melanoma, others see the new combinations’ efficacy as comparable, in addition to being less toxic.

Arguably the most buzz has been around Bristol Myers Squibb Company’s Phase II/III RELATIVITY-047 trial of PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo (nivolumab) combined with its LAG-3 inhibitor relatlimab in advanced melanoma. (Also see "BMS’s Anti-LAG3 Drug Could Offer Safer Combo Partner To Opdivo Monotherapy Patients" - Scrip, 20 May, 2021.) Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has PD-1/LAG-3 data of its own in advanced melanoma, and on 4 June presented data for the combination of Libtayo (cemiplimab-rwlc) and fianlimab. Others include two LAG-3-targeting drugs combined with Merck & Co., Inc