# CheckMate 743

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/checkmate-743/  
OnCo record `checkmate-743` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

CheckMate 743 was the first immunotherapy trial to lengthen survival in mesothelioma, and gave the first new first-line option in 16 years.

## Summary

CheckMate 743, trial NCT02899299 sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb and reported in 2020, was the first immunotherapy trial to lengthen survival in unresectable pleural mesothelioma, giving the first new first-line option in sixteen years. It randomised 605 patients to nivolumab plus ipilimumab or platinum and pemetrexed, met its primary overall survival endpoint with a durable minority alive at five years and the largest benefit in non-epithelioid histology, and led to FDA approval in October 2020 with severe treatment-related events in about a third. OnCo links it to mesothelioma, nivolumab, ipilimumab, pemetrexed, the histology term, Paul Baas, Solange Peters and the pairing of histology with first-line choice. Whether epithelioid patients gain enough to justify dual immunotherapy over chemotherapy combinations is the open question.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-07
- Registry id: NCT02899299
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Unresectable pleural mesothelioma, first line: nivolumab + ipilimumab vs platinum-pemetrexed
- Sponsor: BMS
- Enrolled: 605
- Result: OS 18.1 vs 14.1 months, HR 0.74; 5-year OS 14% vs 6%.
- Outcomes: Overall survival: Nivolumab + ipilimumab 18.1 months vs Platinum + pemetrexed 14.1 months, HR 0.74; 5-year overall survival rate: Nivolumab + ipilimumab 14% vs Platinum + pemetrexed 6%, HR 0.74
- Replication: Single phase 3; consistent direction in the phase 2 MAPS2 and INITIATE studies of second-line nivolumab-ipilimumab.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02899299: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02899299

## Connected records

- cancers: [Mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mesothelioma/), [Pleural mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pleural-mesothelioma/)
- technologies: [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- drugs: [Ipilimumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/ipilimumab/), [Nivolumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/nivolumab/), [Pemetrexed](https://onco.cc/drugs/pemetrexed/)
- terms: [Epithelioid vs sarcomatoid (biphasic) mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/terms/epithelioid-vs-sarcomatoid/)
- people: [Paul Baas](https://onco.cc/people/paul-baas/), [Solange Peters](https://onco.cc/people/solange-peters/)
- pairings: [Histology → first-line choice in mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/pairings/histology-directs-first-line-meso/)
- key papers: [CheckMate 743: first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab in unresectable pleural mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-checkmate-743-lancet-2021/)

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