Results presented at ESMO showed tumor response rates that matched the bar set by analysts for success. But they may not yet be enough to dispel doubts around TIGIT as a target.

The air is fast escaping the Tigit bubble, though some hope remains that Roche’s Skyscraper-01 trial could yet show a survival benefit, and Gilead has repeatedly played up its Arc-7 study. A much smaller Tigit player, Belgium’s Iteos, is far from giving up either.

Biotech investors might be longing for an uptick in M&A to lift spirits, but at least licensing deal activity remains healthy. More than $9bn in up-front fees has changed hands so far this year, and 2021 is not yet over.

Only this week Astrazeneca paid $200m for rights for a phase 3 amyloidosis project from Ionis, with a further $485m contingent on approvals. The terms looks rich considering that this disease area is already competitive, with projects from both Pfizer and Alnylam on sale and others in late-stage trials. But, as this analysis shows, the licensing deal market has not been immune to price inflation.

GlaxoSmithKline is paying iTeos Therapeutics $625 million upfront for rights to phase 1 anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody EOS-448. The deal sets GSK up to challenge Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Merck and Roche for the red-hot corner of the immuno-oncology market.

The TIGIT protein has turned into an arms race for Big Pharma, with Merck and Roche looking to add their own candidates to checkpoint inhibitor combos. A smaller player in that race, iTeos Therapeutics, is one step behind those big names and is rolling out early data that looks pretty par for the course.

Roche’s decision to start a large pivotal program with the Tigit blocker tiragolumab has rekindled enthusiasm about this mechanism, notably sending Arcus’s stock up 70%. This might have overshadowed a third Tigit player, the private biotech Iteos, which nevertheless boasts of a surge of interest behind the scenes.

iTeos Therapeutics SA announced on 6/20/2018 the completion of an oversubscribed $75 million (€64 million) Series B financing led by MPM Capital, with participation from additional new investors HBM Partners, 6 Dimensions Capital and Curative Ventures.