Sugemalimab: First Approval

Sugemalimab (Cejemly® in China) is a fully human, full length, anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) monoclonal antibody (mAb) that is being developed by CStone Pharmaceuticals for the treatment of advanced solid tumours and lymphoma. In December 2021, sugemalimab was approved in China for the first-line treatment of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutation and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) negative metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) administered in combination with pemetrexed and carboplatin for non-squamous NSCLC and in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin for squamous NSCLC. Sugemalimab is under regulatory review as consolidation treatment in patients with stage III NSCLC in China. Clinical studies assessing sugemalimab for the treatment of several other cancers, including liver cancer, gastric cancer, oesophageal cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma and extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma are underway in China, the US and Australia. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of sugemalimab leading to this first approval for the first-line treatment of EGFR gene mutation and ALK-negative metastatic NSCLC.