Roche takes the Tim-3 battle to Novartis

One day after Novartis delayed the results of sabatolimab, the industry’s most advanced anti-Tim-3 asset, Roche has highlighted its move of RG7769/RO7121661, a bispecific combining this mechanism with PD-1, into phase 2.

This is not the only pipeline change it revealed in its second-quarter update today, with earlier industry developments likely spurring the discontinuations of BCMA, CD40 and ophthalmology assets and disappointing investors in Affimed and 4D Molecular. Meanwhile, a hepatitis C antiviral licensed from Atea and repurposed for Covid-19 has moved into phase 3.