Phase I/IIa trial of BMS-986148, an anti-mesothelin antibody–drug conjugate, alone or in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced solid tumors

Purpose: To assess the safety and tolerability of BMS-986148, a mesothelin-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) +/- nivolumab, in patients with selected tumors. Patients and Methods: In an international phase I/IIa study [NCE02341625 (CA008-002)], patients received BMS-986 148 monotherapy (0.1-1.6 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.) every 3 weeks or 0.4 or 0.6 mg/kg i.v. once weekly; n = 96) or BMS-986148 0.8 mg/kg nivolumab 360 mg i.v. every 3 weeks (n = 30). The primary endpoint was safety and tolerability. Results: In CA008-002, the most common 10%) treatmentrelated adverse events (TRAEs) included increased aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Grade 3/4 TRAEs occurred in 42 patients (49%) receiving BMS-986148 every 3 weeks monotherapy, three (25%) receiving BMS-986148 once-weekly monotherapy, and 10 (33%) receiving BMS-986148 nivolumab every 3 weeks. Overall, 17 of 126 patients (13%) discontinued because of a TRAE. The MTD of BMS-986148 was 1.2 mg/kg i.v. every 3 weeks. The safety profile of BMS-986148 +/- nivolumab was similar to that of BMS-986148 monotherapy (0.8 mg/kg). Active ADC exposures increased in a dose-proportional manner with both dosing regimens (every 3 weeks and once weekly). Preliminary clinical activity was observ ed with BMS-986148 nivolumab. No association between mesothelin expression and response was detected. Conclusions: BMS-986148 +/- nivolumab demonstrated a clinically manageable safety profile and preliminary evidence of clinical activity, supporting additional studies combining directed cytotoxic therapies with checkpoint inhibitors as potential multimodal therapeutic strategies in patients with advanced solid tumors