Novartis has halted a phase 1 trial of its CD73 antagonist due to a low likelihood of efficacy, although the Big Pharma will continue to explore the therapy’s potential as part of a combo regimen.
The trial of NZV930 was “terminated early because data review showed low likelihood of efficacy in the patients recruited in that clinical setting,” a Novartis spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech. The decision was not safety-related, they added.
The study, which began in July 2018, enrolled 127 participants with advanced malignancies who received NZV930 either as a monotherapy or in combination with Novartis’ checkpoint inhibitor spartalizumab or its adenosine A2a receptor antagonist NIR178, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
Novartis will continue to evaluate whether NZV930 is effective when used in combination with other investigational agents, the spokesperson told Fierce. They pointed to an ongoing phase 1 trial of KAZ954 in advanced solid tumors that includes a cohort receiving the investigational therapy in combination with NZV930.
The aim of CD73 antagonists is to block the CD73 enzyme from producing adenosine, which can suppress the body’s immune response to cancer. Novartis is not alone in exploring this mechanism: I-Mab’s uliledlimab showed promise alongside Junshi Bioscience’s PD-1 inhibitor toripalimab in initial phase 2 data, while AstraZeneca’s CD73 antagonist oleclumab is in phase 2 trials for pancreatic cancer and phase 3 trials for lung cancer, including in combination with Imfinzi.