• Tambotatug pelitecan (Tam-Peli) demonstrated statistically significant efficacy over topotecan in a phase III study conducted in China, reducing the risk of death by 54% and disease progression by 71%, while achieving an objective response rate of 59.1% vs 9.7%¹
• The novel B7-H3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate with a dual release mechanism of the payload is based on MediLink’s proprietary TMALIN® platform, designed to maximise antitumour activity while minimising off-target toxicity^2,3
• Roche is developing and commercialising Tam-Peli outside mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau across multiple tumour types, with plans to rapidly initiate global trials
• Tam-Peli has received U.S. FDA and China CDE Breakthrough Therapy Designations for relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC)

Roche announced that its collaborator MediLink released interim results from the randomised phase III TAISHAN-302 trial evaluating Tam-Peli (tambotatug pelitecan, YL201) versus topotecan in Chinese patients with relapsed small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who progressed after prior platinum-based chemotherapy with or without a PD-L1 inhibitor.¹ The trial met its primary endpoint of overall survival (OS) with Tam-Peli demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful OS benefit, reducing the risk of death by 54% (median OS 13.3 vs. 9.4 months; stratified HR=0.46; p<0.0001). Tam-Peli also showed robust efficacy across secondary endpoints, significantly extending progression-free survival (PFS) (median PFS 7.4 vs. 2.8 months) and response rates (59.1% vs. 9.7%) compared to standard-of-care topotecan.¹

The trial results are being presented as a Late-Breaking Abstract during a Presidential Presentation at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Seoul with simultaneous publication in The New England Journal of Medicine.¹ Additionally, the Center of Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) for filing.

“The second positive phase III trial for Tam-Peli, TAISHAN-302, reinforces our confidence in its potential to improve outcomes for people with cancer," said Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, Roche’s Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Product Development. "These data demonstrate clinically meaningful survival and response rate improvements in an aggressive and hard-to-treat disease, supporting our plans to initiate global phase III trials quickly.”

Key efficacy results from the phase III TAISHAN-302 trial¹

Consistent OS and PFS improvements were observed across prespecified subgroups, including age, chemotherapy-free interval (<90 vs. ≥90 days), and baseline liver or brain metastatic status. In patients with baseline brain metastases, Tam-Peli extended median intracranial PFS (6.1 months vs. 4.2 months; unstratified HR=0.43; 95% CI: 0.27–0.68) and achieved a higher intracranial response rate (32.4% vs. 2.9%).¹

Tam-Peli showed a favourable and manageable safety profile, demonstrating lower rates of Grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) compared with topotecan (46.4% vs. 74.7%). Serious TRAEs occurred in 25.9% of patients receiving Tam-Peli versus 36.4% with topotecan. Treatment-emergent interstitial lung disease (ILD/pneumonitis) across all grades occurred in 4.9% of Tam-Peli patients versus 1.4% with topotecan; grade 3 ILD/pneumonitis events were low in both groups (0.9% each), with no Grade 4 or 5 events reported.¹

Tam-Peli is designed to target B7-H3, a protein broadly expressed in solid tumours but minimally in normal tissue, allowing it to target cancer cells with high selectivity. Built on MediLink's TMALIN® platform, its stable linker and dual-release mechanism are designed to  maximise therapeutic efficacy while limiting off-target toxicity.^2,3

Following the positive phase III TAISHAN-301 trial (NCT06629597) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, TAISHAN-302 represents the second positive phase III readout for Tam-Peli, conducted in patients in China. Under a collaboration and exclusive licensing agreement between Roche and MediLink Therapeutics, Roche holds development, manufacturing, and commercialisation rights for Tam-Peli worldwide, outside mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Roche is advancing clinical development in its licensed territories across multiple solid tumour types and plans to rapidly initiate global phase III trials.