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Biotechs developing a class of novel cancer drugs called anti-TIGIT therapies turned lower in the premarket Friday after a similar drug developed by Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) failed in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial.
Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) shares fell in European trading on Thursday after the Swiss drugmaker said its anti-TIGIT therapy tiragolumab as part of a first-line drug combo failed to reach the main goals in its SKYSCRAPER-06 trial for non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
Shares of its rivals in the anti-TIGIT space, namely Compugen (CGEN), Arcus Biosciences (RCUS), and iTeos Therapeutics (ITOS), came under pressure as the U.S. markets opened for trading on Friday.
Roche’s (OTCQX:RHHBY) global trial tested tiragolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, in combination with its PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq and chemotherapy versus Merck’s (MRK) blockbuster cancer therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) plus chemotherapy.
The company said SKYSCRAPER-06 failed to reach the primary endpoints of progression-free survival and overall survival at its primary analysis and first interim analysis, respectively. However, the drug combination was found to have a safety profile consistent with prior trials.
Given the lower efficacy found in the on-drug arm, Roche (OTCQX:RHHBF) said it would discontinue the study and review its ongoing clinical program for tiragolumab.