David S. Yee
Aug 1, 2011
Citations
0
Influential Citations
4
Citations
Journal
BioDrugs
Abstract
Joining cetuximab, sorafenib, afatinib, intedanib, and crizotinib in phase III development for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are ramucirumab (developed by ImClone, a subsidiary of Lilly), necitumumab (developed by ImClone and Bristol-Myers Squibb), and tivantinib (ARQ 197, developed by ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo).Necitumumab is a second-generation anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody (mAb) similar to cetuximab. Enrollment has been stopped in one of two necitumumab phase III trials because of safety concerns.Ramucirumab is an anti-VEGFR2 mAb targeting the same pathway as bevacizumab. Although the phase II safety data for ramucirumab appear better than the data for necitumumab, fewer phase III data are available.Tivantinib is a highly selective, orally available MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor. MET is overexpressed in 61% of NSCLC cases. Although tivantinib is the last of the three agents discussed here to enter phase III, its phase II results are the most robust.