In 2004, Drew Pardoll and colleagues discovered that the lymphocyte-activation gene 3, or LAG-3, was a new immune checkpoint.
Checkpoints inhibitors are
proteins that stop the
immune system from responding to
cancer cells. Checkpoint inhibitor drugs block these proteins, unleashing the immune system to battle the cancer. As stated in the official John Hopkins Technological Ventures Press: • 2010: Pardoll and his research team begin a study to see how relatlimab, a LAG-3 blocking drug, treats cancer in mice. • 2012: Findings from the study are published showing that a combination of a LAG-3 blocker and PD-1 blocker is an effective cancer treatment. • 2018: The RELATIVITY-047 trial begins enrolling patients and randomly assigning them to receive relatlimab with nivolumab or nivolumab alone. • January 2022: Results from the RELATIVITY-047 trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine show the combination treatment with relatlimab to be a more effective treatment than nivolumab alone. • March 2022: The FDA gives approval for the combination treatment (relatlimab and nivolumab, marketed as Opdualag) as a new therapy for patients with metastatic or inoperable melanoma. The combination
nivolumab/relatlimab (Opdualag) was approved for medical use in the United States in March 2022. == Names ==