CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ONCOLOGY


Subcutaneous drugs grant a new lease on life to checkpoint inhibitors


The PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor landscape is at the precipice of change with the approval of Roche’s subcutaneous formulation of Tecentriq.


PHALGUNI DESWAL


As per Roche, Tecentriq SC can be administered in seven minutes compared to 30–60 minutes for the intravenous formulation. Credit: CI Photos via Shutterstock.com.


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n 2023, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) expanded the immuno-oncology


armory with an approval for a subcutaneous formulation of its blockbuster oncology drug, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), opening up another avenue for the highly successful treatment approach. The availability of the subcutaneous


formulation of a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor is expected to make waves in the immuno-oncology landscape, which


30 | Clinical Trials in Oncology


is driven mainly by checkpoint inhibitors. The biggest players in the field have made record profits with PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors. Merck & Co reported sales of $20.9bn for Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in 2022, while Bristol Myers Squibb earned $8.2bn with Opdivo (nivolumab) and Roche reported SFr3.7bn ($4bn) in sales for Tecentriq in the same period. “The major companies in the field [are]


shifting their focus to developing subcutaneous formulations, [and] if


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