Not yet time for Tim-3

Anyone who had been hoping for proof-of-concept data soon on targeting Tim-3 will be disappointed: readout from a study of Novartis’s sabatolimab, the most advanced Tim-3 project, has been delayed. The company had been expecting complete response data this quarter from the phase 2 Stimulus-MDS1 study in high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, but today said a data-monitoring committee had concluded in June that the trial should remain blinded until its progression-free survival readout, slated for 2022 or 2023. CR and PFS are co-primary endpoints of the trial. The next most-advanced Tim-3-targeting asset, Glaxosmithkline’s cobolimab, is due to yield data from the phase 2 Amber study in the second half. The Novartis delay is unusual, and depending on the committee's criteria might be due to CR data being neither strong enough to unblind the study, or not sufficiently weak to declare it futile.