Kymab Group Ltd has entered a clinical trial agreement with Roche. Under the agreement, Roche will provide its PD-L1 blocking antibody atezolizumab for use in combination in Kymab’s upcoming Phase I-II clinical studies combining its lead investigational anti-ICOS antibody therapy KY1044 in patients with advanced solid cancers. Kymab will be responsible for conducting the clinical trials, and both companies will share data from the trials. Kymab continues to retain all commercial rights to KY1044.

"We have presented preclinical data demonstrating strong synergies between an anti-PD-L1 treatment in combination with KY1044 against multiple tumor types," said Arndt Schottelius, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president, Research and Development of Kymab. "We look forward to the initiation of our first studies and exploration of the potential synergy of our programs for the benefit of patients with advanced solid cancers."

KY1044 is designed to both deplete intratumoral Regulatory T cells and stimulate T Effector cells to enhance the immune response against tumors. Kymab plans to conduct a Phase I/II study in a variety of solid tumors both as monotherapy and in combination with atezolizumab.
 

Indications that have elevated levels of both ICOS and FOXP3 might be especially responsive to this combination of checkpoint inhibitors. Kymab will lead studies to evaluate this hypothesis: atezolizumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody that acts as a checkpoint inhibitor, and KY1044, an antibody targeting ICOS expression, will be tested for synergistic action to recalibrate the immune response. Kymab plans to initiate monotherapy studies of KY1044 in 1H 2019 and studies in combination with TECENTRIQ in 2H 2019.