Toripalimab (Tuoyi™) is a selective, recombinant, humanized
monoclonal antibody against programmed death
protein 1 (PD-1) developed by Shanghai Junshi Bioscience Co., Ltd.
Toripalimab is able to bind to PD-1 and block the interaction with its
ligands. The binding of
toripalimab to PD-1 is mainly attributed to the heavy chain of the former and the FG loop of the latter.
Toripalimab received a conditional approval in China for the treatment of
melanoma (second-line) in December, 2018. It has also received approvals to treat
nasopharyngeal carcinoma (first-line and third-line) and urothelial
carcinoma (second-line) in 2021. Additionally, several orphan drug designations were granted to
toripalimab by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Toripalimab has exhibited primary anti-
tumor effects in
tumors such as
melanoma,
lung cancer, digestive tract
tumors, hepatobiliary and pancreatic
tumors, neuroendocrine neoplasms, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and urothelial
carcinoma. It showed a satisfactory anti-
tumor effect and long-term survival benefits in Chinese
melanoma patients, while the combination of
axitinib with
toripalimab exhibited an impressive result in metastatic mucosal
melanoma. As a checkpoint inhibitor,
toripalimab was generally well-tolerated in the enrolled patients. Due to different study populations, comparisons could not be made directly between
toripalimab and other drugs in most cases. Nevertheless, the introduction of
toripalimab may offer a valuable choice for decision-making in the treatment of
tumors in the future.