Macrogenics takes another shot at a novel immune checkpoint

For some investors Macrogenics is all about the approved drug Margenza, but an earlier asset is increasingly getting the sellside excited. That asset is MGC018, and it faces an important catalyst this year: an update to clinical data whose initial release a year ago had caused some analysts to add it to financial forecasts.

MGC018 is an antibody-drug conjugate against B7-H3, and interestingly it is Macrogenics’ third shot at this immune checkpoint; the group’s B7-H3-targeting bispecific and naked MAb appear to have been deemphasised. The MGC018 data will undoubtedly be early, but Leerink analysts, for one, reckon they amount to a major catalyst in terms of possible stock impact.