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“People went for Fc-competent [TIGITs] because it worked best in mice,” said Leerink Partners analyst Daina Graybosch, Ph.D. “They couldn\'t help themselves.\"\n Once hailed as the future of immuno-oncology, it’s been a tough few months for any remaining fans of anti-TIGIT antibodies.In April, BeOne Medicines, formerly known as BeiGene, announced it was scrapping ociperlimab over a disappointing phase 3 outlook two years after Novartis handed back the asset. Specifically, the study’s independent data monitoring committee deemed the trial unlikely to show that a combination of ociperlimab and BeOne’s own PD-1 inhibitor Tevimbra would beat Keytruda in patients with PD-L1-high non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).The following month brought more tough times for TIGITs, as GSK halted development of its own candidate belrestotug after deciding the iTeos Therapeutics-partnered drug in combination with anti-PD-1 inhibitor Jemperli wouldn’t score a phase 2 win in a similar NSCLC population.Even executives at Roche, whose tiragolumab appeared to buck the trend with a caveated phase 3 win in esophageal cancer in 2024, reaffirmed to Fierce Biotech earlier this year that “we stopped all of the tiragolumab trials that we could stop, and those that couldn\'t be stopped are just running out.”With Big Pharma having pumped $6 billion into this modality, what went so wrong for TIGITs?Daina Graybosch, Ph.D., a senior research analyst at Leerink Partners who covers immuno-oncology, traces the problems back to the exuberant reaction to Roche’s impressive phase 2 tiragolumab data that read out across 2020 and 2021. The Cityscape trial demonstrated that the TIGIT drug in combination with Roche’s own PD-L1 blocker Tecentriq shrank tumors in 31% of patients with metastatic lung cancer—twice as many patients as Tecentriq alone.“That\'s probably the biggest point where the field went wrong, in that they looked at this massive benefit in the small phase 2, and everybody ran after it in a parallel and broad way,” Graybosch told Fierce in an interview.“We had randomized phase 2 data from Roche, from Arcus-Gilead, from iTeos-GSK, and they all consistently showed benefit in response rate and in [progression-free survival],” she added.“I think the challenge ultimately was: How much benefit is there really? Is it enough benefit to be clinically meaningful? And are we developing the drugs in the right way, in the right format, to optimize and bring that benefit to patients?”The industry’s “overenthusiasm” for the potential of TIGITs led to a “simplistic approach” to how other companies planned to develop their own candidates, according to Graybosch.If pharmas had anticipated a “more realistic demonstration of benefit,” as seen in the failed Skyscraper-01 phase 3 study in NSCLC, “I think everybody would have developed [TIGITs] differently,” she suggested.Companies swimming in the TIGIT space have broadly fallen into two camps. Roche’s tiragolumab, along with Merck & Co.’s vibostolimab, GSK and iTeos’ EOS-448, and BeOne’s ociperlimab, are all Fc-enabled. These antibodies retain a fully functional Fc region, meaning they can bind to Fc receptors found on the cell surface and contribute to the protective antitumor functions of the immune system.The theory behind Fc-enabled anti-TIGIT antibodies is that they have enhanced tumor-killing effects. However, the risk is that they could possibly also eliminate certain regulatory T cells and therefore lead to unwanted immune responses.In fact, side effects did cast a shadow over some of the Fc-enabled TIGIT trials, with Merck halting a phase 3 trial of vibostolimab due to a higher than expected rate of discontinuations blamed on “immune-mediated adverse experiences.”“Toxicity that may lead patients to discontinue I think ended up being a contributing factor across the Fc-enabled TIGITs that are all now dead,” Graybosch said.The last TIGITs still standing—Arcus Biosciences and Gilead’s domvanalimab, as well as AstraZeneca’s TIGIT/PD-1 bispecific antibody rilvegostomig—have mutated out the Fc function. This should mean they are less toxic for patients.“People went for Fc-competent because it worked best in mice,” Graybosch explained. “They couldn\'t help themselves, even though they knew there was some risk of depleting T effector cells that are actually what you need to fight your tumor.” Focusing on \'modest benefit\'So, what would a more measured approach to the TIGIT gold rush have meant in practice?“I think you ultimately do what Astra is doing,” said Graybosch, referring to AstraZeneca’s ongoing phase 3 trials of its bispecific rilvegostomig in a range of phase 3 studies for NSCLC or stomach cancer, including in combination with its Daiichi Sankyo-partnered antibody-drug conjugates Enhertu or Datroway.“Astra is recognizing the modest benefit,” she explained. “Their bispecific is very safe because it\'s Fc silent. And in some ways, Astra can\'t lose because [rilvegostomig] doesn\'t need to work that much for a lot of their trials to be successful.”AstraZeneca’s Puja Sapra, Ph.D., senior vice president for biologics engineering and oncology target discovery, was also upbeat about rilvegostomig’s prospects when she spoke to Fierce back in April. She pointed to the fact that engineering the bispecific to reduce Fc effector functionality should reduce unwanted side effects, while blocking both PD-1 and TIGIT at the same time “should hopefully help us increase the response rate and durability.”“At least in preclinical studies, we see that a bispecific molecule has better responses than a combination of both agents alone,” Sapra said at the time. “The molecule is doing very well in the clinic so far, so we continue to believe in this molecule.”Gilead is also staying loyal to its TIGIT candidate, which is being evaluated in phase 3 trials for first-line NSCLC as well as for locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric, gastroesophageal junction and esophageal adenocarcinoma.The pharma’s chief medical officer Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., told Fierce earlier this month that the Arcus-partnered domvanalimab still has a chance, pointing to its Fc-silent character.“We believe there is differentiation but, of course, we need to see how those studies read out,” Berger said. “Any additional activities around that will be based on what we see in those studies.”With AstraZeneca and Gilead still holding a candle for their Fc-silent candidates, Leerink’s Graybosch doesn’t think “it\'s fair to completely write off TIGIT.”“But if you ask 99% of average investors, generalists or specialists and [key opinion leaders], I think they’ll tell you it\'s dead,” she added.Angus Liu contributed to this reporting.

“We have a pipeline that can deliver at this point, but we will absolutely further optimize it,” Gilead Sciences\' Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., told Fierce.\n Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D., joined Gilead Sciences as chief medical officer at the start of this year after the company’s oncology department suffered some prominent setbacks. The run of bad luck included two back-to-back phase 3 flops of Trodelvy in non-small cell lung cancer and bladder cancer as well as the demise of the anti-CD47 drug magrolimab from a $4.9 billion acquisition.But Berger, who boasts a deep background in cancer drug development, still believes the virology giant made the right move to branch out into oncology and immunology.“I am a strong believer that diversification for Gilead is the right decision,” Berger told Fierce in an interview on the sidelines of the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.“I also think that oncology and immunology are the right areas for Gilead, because of the emerging science … and because we can apply a lot of the strength that Gilead has—for example in chemistry, in protein design and deep understanding of biology—very strongly to oncology and immunology.”As a new head of development joining a biopharma company, it’s natural to think about ways to improve the portfolio, he said. “We have a pipeline that can deliver at this point, but we will absolutely further optimize it,” Berger added.The CMO said he’s trying to build a “balanced” and “partially derisked portfolio” by combining direct cytotoxic mechanisms with immuno-oncology. Again, diversification is key here. At ASCO, Gilead’s cell therapy unit Kite Pharma reported some early positive data for its anti-CD19/CD20 bicistronic CAR-T therapy in advanced B-cell lymphoma. Another bivalent CAR-T candidate partnered with the University of Pennsylvania targeting EGFR and interleukin-13 receptor alpha 2 recorded notable tumor shrinkage in eight (62%) of 13 patients with recurrent glioblastoma, a notoriously aggressive and hard-to-treat brain cancer.Trodelvy also had a positive story to tell at this year’s ASCO, courtesy of two positive phase 3 readouts in first-line triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In a potentially practice-changing data set, Trodelvy and Merck & Co.’s Keytruda significantly reduced the risk of progression or death by 35% versus Keytruda and chemotherapy in first-line PD-L1-positive TNBC.In immuno-oncology, Berger highlighted GS-1811, an anti-CCR8 antibody Gilead obtained from Jounce Therapeutics. The drug, designed to remove immunosuppressive tumor-infiltrating T regulatory cells, is still in early-stage development.All told, Gilead has 58 projects across virology, oncology and immunology in its portfolio, the largest and most diverse pipeline in the biopharma\'s history. Challenges in ADC and immuno-oncologyFor Trodelvy, new TROP2 competition has arrived in the form of AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Datroway and Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s sac-TMT.In Trodelvy’s home base of second-line TNBC, the Gilead drug is the only one that has demonstrated an overall survival benefit. Parallel data that could help experts compare these drugs side by side in a cross-trial fashion have not yet read out, Berger explained.Besides first-line TNBC, Trodelvy is also being tested in earlier-line HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, which could represent a bigger patient population than TNBC. Following the Evoke-01 flop, the Evoke-03 study for Trodelvy and Keytruda in first-line PD-L1-high NSCLC remains ongoing.Since Gilead’s $21 billion acquisition of Immunomedics in 2020, the company still has only one antibody-drug conjugate asset, whereas other players in the space such as AstraZeneca and Pfizer have developed multiple products.The Immunomedics deal was a strategic acquisition designed to give Gilead an anchor in its diversification into solid tumors, and the company then built R&D capabilities around that, Berger noted.“That bit of a time lag is largely based on: How do you build an oncology organization?” Berger said.New oncology molecules are now coming out of Gilead’s internal research capabilities, and the company will also “focus strongly” on external opportunities, he said. Berger wouldn’t name specific ADC projects outside of Gilead that he’s interested in. Toward the end of 2024, before Berger officially moved across from Sanofi, Gilead penned a deal with Tubulis to develop a topoisomerase I inhibitor-based ADC.“There’s usually the question, do you combine different mechanisms, or do you double down on a specific pathway,” Berger said of target selection for ADCs.Choosing the linker is dependent on whether a bystander effect—in which the cytotoxic payload from the ADC kills cells surrounding the target cell—is desired, and the toxin needs to be carefully evaluated because these payloads hit different tumor types differently, Berger noted.Meanwhile, things don’t look too promising for Gilead’s late-stage immuno-oncology program, the Arcus Biosciences-partnered domvanalimab. The drug is one of the few remaining anti-TIGIT antibodies still in development after companies such as Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK and BeOne (formerly BeiGene) walked away from the field. Roche’s Genentech, where Berger used to lead oncology clinical development, has all but abandoned tiragolumab after several disappointing studies, and the pharma is now only waiting for two fully enrolled phase 3 trials to read out.Berger argued that domvanalimab may still stand a chance. The TIGIT molecules that have failed so far are mostly Fc-competent antibodies, whereas domvanalimab is Fc-silent.Fc-enabled anti-TIGIT antibodies theoretically have enhanced tumor-killing effects because they can bind to FcγRs and activate immune cells. But they could possibly also eliminate certain regulatory T cells and therefore lead to unwanted immune responses. Before nixing its TIGIT candidate vibostolimab, Merck had noted a higher rate of immune-related adverse events in at least two failed phase 3 trials. Only data will tell whether Fc-competence is the key. Gilead and Arcus are running two phase 3 trials that combine domvanalimab with Arcus’ PD-1 drug zimberelimab and chemotherapy in first-line NSCLC and gastric, gastroesophageal junction and esophageal adenocarcinoma.Gilead has a stated goal to have 30% of its revenue from oncology products by 2030. Berger acknowledged that the huge clinical success—and potential imminent approval—of twice-yearly lenacapavir for HIV prevention could make achieving that goal harder but said the company remains committed to a target of 30% of revenue from outside virology.“It does place a stronger focus on oncology,” Berger said. “But don’t get me wrong, I think we are in a good spot now.”