Arcus Biosciences partners with Bristol Myers Squibb to advance kidney cancer treatment

Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS) has announced a new clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) aimed at advancing treatment options for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Under the terms of the agreement, Arcus will provide its investigational small-molecule HIF-2a inhibitor, casdatifan, for inclusion in the BMS-sponsored Phase 1/2 ROSETTA RCC-208 clinical trial.

The ROSETTA RCC-208 trial is currently evaluating pumitamig (BNT327/BMS986545), an investigational PD-L1/VEGF-A bispecific antibody being co-developed by BioNTech and Bristol Myers Squibb.

The collaboration will integrate casdatifan into the trial by establishing two new study arms, allowing researchers to evaluate the efficacy of combining casdatifan with the bispecific immunomodulator.

Both companies have confirmed that the agreement is mutually non-exclusive and that each party will retain the development and commercial rights to its respective assets.

For Arcus, the partnership represents a key step in its broader strategic goal of positioning casdatifan as a versatile "backbone" therapy for kidney cancer.

Terry Rosen, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Arcus, highlighted the biological rationale for the combination, noting that the simultaneous targeting of HIF-2a, PD-L1, and VEGF-A—all validated mechanisms in renal cancer—could potentially offer a more effective, TKI-free (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) treatment option in the first-line setting.