{"entity":{"id":"adu-s100","kind":"drug","name":"ADU-S100 (MIW815)","aka":[],"tldr":"ADU-S100 was the first STING agonist in the clinic. Injected directly into tumours, it produced almost no responses, alone or with checkpoint blockade.","summary":"A cyclic dinucleotide STING agonist from Aduro (partnered with Novartis). Phase 1 monotherapy and combinations with spartalizumab or ipilimumab produced single-digit response rates; Novartis returned rights in 2019 and Aduro discontinued the programme in 2020. Merck's MK-1454 followed the same path. The pathway remains important (it mediates immune effects of radiation and ADCs), and systemic and antibody-conjugated STING agonists continue.\n\nLesson: intratumoural delivery to one lesion rarely produces systemic immunity in humans as it does in mice; pharmacology (rapid clearance, dosing) matters as much as the target.","status":"withdrawn","asOf":"2026-09-06","links":[{"label":"ADU-S100 phase 1 (Cancer Discov 2023)","url":"https://aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscovery/article/13/5/1117/725648"}],"tags":["failure","lesson:wrong-drug"],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma","head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":["sting-agonist"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["novartis"],"institutions":[],"pathways":["cgas-sting"],"terms":[],"trials":["nct03937141"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"code":"ADU-S100","modality":"Small molecule (STING agonist, intratumoural)","mechanism":"Synthetic cyclic dinucleotide activating STING → TBK1 → IRF3 → type I interferon.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/adu-s100/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"sting-agonist","kind":"technology","name":"STING & innate immune agonists","route":"/technologies/sting-agonist/"}],"company":[{"id":"novartis","kind":"company","name":"Novartis","route":"/companies/novartis/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"cgas-sting","kind":"pathway","name":"cGAS-STING innate sensing","route":"/pathways/cgas-sting/"},{"id":"immune-desert-exclusion","kind":"pathway","name":"Cold tumours: immune deserts and exclusion","route":"/pathways/immune-desert-exclusion/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct03937141","kind":"trial","name":"Efficacy and Safety Trial of ADU-S100 and Pembrolizumab in Head and Neck Cancer","route":"/trials/nct03937141/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-tme-immunosuppression","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Cold tumours and the immunosuppressive microenvironment","route":"/bottlenecks/b-tme-immunosuppression/"}],"target":[{"id":"tbk1","kind":"target","name":"TBK1","route":"/targets/tbk1/"}]}}