etakafusp alfa + pembrolizumab

Etakafusp alfa (AB248) + pembrolizumab is a combination therapy being investigated for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. Etakafusp alfa is a CD8+ T cell selective IL-2 immunotherapy engineered to selectively and potently activate CD8+ T cells while avoiding natural killer (NK) cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs). It is created by fusing a reduced potency IL-2 mutein to an anti-CD8β antibody, demonstrating over 500-fold selectivity for CD8+ T cells over other immune cell types. Pembrolizumab is an anti-PD-1 therapy that blocks the PD-1 pathway, enhancing T-cell immune responses against tumor cells. The combination is being studied based on the hypothesis that both drugs used together may work better than either one alone, with etakafusp alfa's selective CD8+ T cell activation potentially complementing pembrolizumab's checkpoint inhibition.