Budigalimab: a viable option for patients with advanced solid tumors

INTRODUCTION: Immune checkpoint inhibitors transformed lung cancer treatment and prognosis, new drugs are currently being developed to continue to improve patient's outcome and especially surrogate immune checkpoint for each pharma company pipeline. AREAS COVERED: We conducted a literature review on Budigalimab to describe current data on drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics alongside clinical efficacy and safety outcome. Budigalimab is a newly developed monoclonal antibody targeting programmed cell death 1 (PD1), enhanced with a Fc mutation to limit effector function in contrast to comparable drugs on the market. Phase I data successfully highlighted safety and expected efficacy as a single agent with flat dosage (250 mg Q2W, 375 Q3W or 500 mg Q4W) across various tumor types. Drug development is now focusing on combination strategies given the massive number of drugs in the pipeline. Phase II and phase III data are still pending but promising trials are currently running across various tumor types. EXPERT OPINION: Budigalimab is a new PD1 targeted immune checkpoint that is likely to be developed within association to other anticancer drugs within the Abbvie pipeline.