Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi's cemiplimab produced a reduction in tumor size in 29% of advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients in a phase 1 trial.
The drug also kept the disease under control in 57% of the 21 patients, according to interim data from the phase 1 trial.
Cemiplimab, which is being jointly developed by Regeneron and Sanofi under a global collaboration agreement, is an investigational human monoclonal antibody targeting the immune checkpoint programmed cell death protein 1, or PD-1.
PD-1 is a protein on the surface of T cells that curbs the cell's inflammatory response to invaders. Inhibiting or blocking this stimulates the immune system to fight cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency are currently reviewing cemiplimab as a potential new treatment for patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, CSCC, or patients with locally advanced CSCC who are not candidates for surgery.
Cemiplimab is also being investigated in trials as a monotherapy for basal cell carcinoma and cervical cancer alongside exploratory trials in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, melanoma, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
