Bristol-Myers to test Opdivo with Nektar Therapeutics drug in five tumor types

The new collaboration will explore the potential benefits of combining BMS’ anti-PD-1 antibody with Nektar’s CD122-biased agonist, NKTR-214, in five tumor types.

The phase 1/2 clinical trials will assess the potential for the combination to show improved and sustained efficacy and tolerability above current standard of care in patients with melanoma, kidney, colorectal, bladder, and non-small-cell lung cancer.

An initial dose-escalation study is underway. BMS and Nektar have agreed to share costs of the trials equally.

Nektar will maintain its worldwide commercial rights to NKTR-214, which targets CD122 specific receptors identified on the surface of these immune cells, known as CD8+ effector T cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells, to stimulate cancer-killing immune cells in the body.

Opdivo (nivolumab is a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor designed to overcome immune suppression.

BMS oncology head Fouad Namouni said: “We are excited to explore the potential benefits in multiple types of cancer of the combination of Opdivo with Nektar’s innovative cancer immunotherapy.

“We believe that a combination regimen which utilizes two different and complementary mechanisms designed to harness the body’s own immune system to fight cancer has the potential to provide new treatment options for patients.”

Last month, a phase 3 study of Opdivo in treatment-naïve patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has failed to meet primary endpoint of progression-free survival in patients expressing PD-L1 ≥ 5%.

It was the first time that Opdivo has failed in a clinical trial.

Image: Bristol-Myers Squibb facility in Syracuse, New York, US. Photo: courtesy of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.