SITC 2022 preview – cytokines and oral checkpoints

For the second year running small-molecule immune checkpoint blockade is set to take centre stage at the SITC meeting. Like in 2021 Incyte will present clinical data, this time from no fewer than three oral PD-L1 inhibitors, INCB099318, INCB099280 and INCB086550.

But Incyte will be joined by two other similarly acting small molecules: CCX559, a little-known asset in development by Chemocentryx, a company being bought by Amgen largely for its marketed vasculitis therapy, Tavneos; and HZ-G206, which appears to be owned by the Chinese group Hangzhou Hezheng Pharmaceutical. Elsewhere, there is a major focus on cytokines, plus the usual mix of novel biological targets and cell therapies.