Agenus mulls a solo TIGIT path

Terminating a licensing deal on the eve of a clinical catalyst doesn’t inspire great confidence in the project in question. So it’s probably safe to assume that long-awaited first human data with Agenus’s Fc-enhanced anti-TIGIT x CD96 MAb, which Bristol Myers Squibb gave up on last week, won’t surprise on the upside. Bristol apparently gave Agenus notice of its ending of the companies’ 2021 pact, which yielded the MAb in question, BMS-986442/AGEN1777, on 30 July citing “strategic realignment”, but it was only on Friday that Agenus slipped this out in an SEC filing. Bristol’s move comes amid wider disappointments in the TIGIT space, including its own earlier discontinuation of the monospecific anti-TIGIT MAb renvistobart. Agenus claims that AGEN1777 has generated significant safety data, as well as “indications of clinical activity” in early trials, and says it’s considering further development of the molecule. That could make some business sense since Agenus mortgaged away to Ligand Pharmaceuticals part of the milestone and royalty stream due from Bristol; Bristol’s discontinuation just extinguished that obligation, though it’s not clear whether the Ligand deal might cover a future licensing arrangement. Agenus reports second-quarter financials on Thursday.