Safety and Immunogenicity of LY3415244, a Bispecific Antibody Against TIM-3 and PD-L1, in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

Purpose: Investigate the safety and efficacy of LY3415244, a TIM-3/PD-L1 bispecific antibody that blocks TIM-3 and PD-L1 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Patients and methods: A phase I, multicenter, open-label study was conducted in patients with advanced solid tumors. Patients were dosed every 2 weeks intravenously with flat doses of LY3415244 escalating from 3 to 70 mg. The primary endpoints were safety, tolerability, and identification of the recommended phase II dose.

Results: Between November 2018 and October 2019, 12 patients were enrolled into four cohorts and received at least one dose of LY3415244. Two patients (16.7%) developed clinically significant anaphylactic infusion-related reactions and all patients developed treatment-emergent antidrug antibodies (TE-ADA). ADA titers were sometimes very high and negatively impacted soluble TIM-3 target engagement in most patients. ADA epitope specificity was against both TIM-3 and PD-L1 arms of the bispecific antibody; most TE-ADAs initially targeted the TIM-3 arm after the first dose. Preexisting ADAs against LY3415244 were also detected in normal (unexposed) human serum samples. One patient with PD-1 refractory non-small cell lung Cancer had a near partial response (-29.6%).

Conclusions: This TIM-3 and PD-L1 bispecific format was associated with unexpected immunogenicity targeting both arms of the bispecific antibody, resulting in early study termination. Epitope specificity analysis revealed an initial response toward the TIM-3 arm and presence of preexisting ADAs to the bispecific molecule in the general population. This experience emphasizes the importance of thorough analyses for preexisting ADAs as part of immunogenicity risk assessment of novel antibodies.See related commentary by de Spéville and Moreno, p. 2669.