Incyte announced it is discontinuing five early-stage oncology programmes, including both of its oral PD-L1 inhibitors. The decision, revealed alongside the company's second-quarter earnings results, marks the second major pipeline cut for Incyte in just over a year, highlighting an increased focus on what the company deems "high-impact clinical programmes."Specifically, Incyte is pulling the plug on the PD-L1 candidates INCB99280 and INCB99318. Both were in Phase I testing for solid tumors, with INCB99280 having entered a trial late last year as part of a combination with Bristol Myers Squibb's Krazati (adagrasib) in adult patients harbouring a KRASG12C mutation.Incyte is also scrapping a pair of partnered LAG-3 drug candidates — the monoclonal antibody INCAGN2385 in development with Agenus and the LAG-3xPD-1 bispecific INCA32459 in collaboration with Merus. Rounding out the list is the TIM-3 monoclonal antibody INCAGN2390, another product that stems from the Agenus collaboration."The restructuring was driven primarily by two things," said R&D head Pablo Cagnoni during the company's earnings call. "One, data review of the existing programmes … as well as the continued progression and promising data that we're seeing from the earlier stage pipeline that is now becoming mid-stage and will start delivering important milestones in the next 18 months."Cagnoni denied that recent positive topline Phase III data for Zynyz (retifanlimab) in squamous cell anal carcinoma (SCAC) and non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was the reason behind the pipeline restructuring. The PODIUM-303 study in SCAC and PODIUM-304 study in NSCLC met their respective primary endpoints of progression-free survival and overall survival. Incyte says it will share more details in the second half.The latest round of cuts follows a similar action last year, when the company discontinued six drugs — one in warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and five for different types of cancer. At that time, CEO Hervé Hoppenot had stated the decision would allow Incyte "to optimise our allocation of resources on programmes that can have a high impact for patients and for Incyte."Incyte now says its refocused R&D efforts will prioritise several key areas, chiefly its inflammation and autoimmunity portfolio, including dermatology, with a spotlight on povorcitinib and recently acquired mast cell inhibitors from its $750-million Escient Pharmaceuticals buyout. The company will also maintain its commitment to myeloproliferative neoplasms and graft-versus-host disease, as well as select oncology programmes including a CDK2 inhibitor, a KRAS G12D inhibitor, and a TGFβR2×PD-1 bispecific antibody.