NeoImmuneTech, Inc. announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 study evaluating NT-I7 (efineptakin alfa), a novel long-acting human interleukin-7 (IL-7), in combination with atezolizumab (Tecentriq?) as a first-line (1L) treatment for patients with PD-L1-expressing, locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of all cases of lung cancer. Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide ? in 2020, an estimated 2.2 million new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed globally, accounting for approximately 11.4% of the global cancer burden. An estimated 1.8 million lung cancer deaths occurred in 2020. Atezolizumab has shown clinically meaningful benefit in various types of lung cancer, with six currently approved indications in the US. Atezolizumab now has five approved indications in NSCLC in the US, including as a single agent or in combination with targeted therapies and/or chemotherapies. It was also the first approved cancer immunotherapy for the first-line treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide (chemotherapy) and the first approved cancer immunotherapy for adjuvant NSCLC. This multicenter Phase 2 study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination therapy. Roche will supply NeoImmuneTech with atezolizumab for the clinical trial.