Pharmaceutical giants abandon TIGIT cancer drug class after $3 billion in losses
A 2026 analysis in BMJ Oncology describes the collective pursuit as “herding,” highlighting the scale of the failed effort involving nearly 49,000 patients.
Major pharmaceutical companies, including Roche, Merck, GSK and BeiGene, have discontinued their anti-TIGIT drug programmes following widespread clinical failures. The collapse of the TIGIT hypothesis, which involved over 49,000 patients and more than $3 billion in costs, has led to the class being regarded as a failed therapeutic target within the oncology sector.
Roche’s tiragolumab was the first major entry in the space, with its flagship trial SKYSCRAPER-01 missing its primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Final analysis reported on 26 November 2024 showed no statistically significant overall survival benefit. An interim trial SKYSCRAPER-06 in July 2024 showed patients on tiragolumab died faster than the control group, prompting Roche to remove the drug from its pipeline in early 2026.
Merck halted multiple trials of its vibostolimab programme due to high rates of immune-related adverse events and futility. The entire programme was discontinued in 2025 after trials in melanoma and small-cell lung cancer demonstrated safety and efficacy concerns.
Arcus and Gilead’s domvanalimab, an Fc-silent antibody considered the last hope for the class, saw its Phase 3 trial in upper-GI cancers halted in December 2025 after failing to work. This result effectively tested and negated the hypothesis that modifying the antibody structure could salvage the target.
BeiGene terminated its Phase 3 trial for ociperlimab in April 2025 for futility, following Novartis’s forfeiture of its option fee in July 2023. GSK mutually terminated its belrestotug programme in 2025 after paying $625 million upfront in June 2021, leading to iTeos winding down and being acquired.
A 2026 BMJ Oncology analysis described the industry’s behaviour as “herding,” noting the massive scale of the failed effort. AstraZeneca remains the only major company with an anti-TIGIT drug, rilvegostomig, still in Phase 3 trials, though the broader field views the target with significant caution.
