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TAK-981

Phase 1

Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors | Small molecule | Oncology |Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited|Last Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Success Probability

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Market & Valuation

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Trial Design

CONTROLLEDDMC
Total Trials1
Total Enrollment161

FDA Designations

No designations recorded

Clinical trial landscape

TAK-981 · 2 trials · 2 indications

Phase 1 1Early Phase 1 1
NCT04381650A Study of TAK-981 Given With Pembrolizumab in Participants With Select Advanced or Metastatic Solid TumorsAdvanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors
COMPLETED161 Analytics
PHASE1COMPLETED
A Study of TAK-981 Given With Pembrolizumab in Participants With Select Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors
Advanced or Metastatic Solid TumorsUnlock trial analytics

Study Endpoints

Primary Endpoints

Phase 1: Number of Participants With One or More Treatment Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs)
Up to approximately 24 months

An adverse event (AE) is any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered a medicinal investigational drug. The untoward medical occurrence does not necessarily have to have a causal relationship with treatment. A TEAE is defined as an AE that occurs after administration of first dose of study drug and through 30 days after last dose of study drug or until start of subsequent antineoplastic therapy. AEs were evaluated according to National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE), Version 5.0 except cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which was graded according to American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) Consensus Grading for CRS.

Phase 1: Number of Participants With Dose Limiting Toxicities (DLTs)
Up to Cycle 1 (each cycle was of 21 days)

DLTs were evaluated according to NCI CTCAE Version 5.0 except CRS, which was graded according to ASTCT Consensus Grading for CRS.

Phase 1: Number of Participants With Grade 3 or Higher Treatment Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs)
Up to approximately 24 months

AE means any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered a pharmaceutical product. An AE can therefore be any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, or disease temporally associated with the use of a medicinal product whether or not it is related to the medicinal product. A TEAE was defined as an adverse event which occurred on or after the first dose of study drug and no more than 30 days after the last dose of study drug. A severity grade was evaluated as per the NCI CTCAE Version 5.0, except for CRS, which was assessed by ASTCT Consensus Grading for CRS.

Phase 1: Number of Participants With One or More Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)
Up to approximately 24 months

An SAE is any untoward medical occurrence that results in death; is life-threatening; requires inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of present hospitalization; results in persistent or significant disability/incapacity; is a congenital anomaly/birth defect or is a medically important event that may not be immediately life-threatening or result in death or hospitalization, but may jeopardize the participant or may require intervention to prevent one of other outcomes listed in definition above, or involves suspected transmission via a medicinal product of an infectious agent.

Phase 1: Number of Participants With One or More TEAEs Leading to Dose Modifications and Treatment Discontinuation
Up to approximately 24 months

An AE is any untoward medical occurrence in a participant administered a medicinal investigational drug. The untoward medical occurrence does not necessarily have to have a causal relationship with treatment. A TEAE is defined as an AE that occurs after administration of first dose of study drug and through 30 days after last dose of study drug or until start of subsequent antineoplastic therapy.

Phase 1: Number of Participants With Clinically Significant Laboratory Values
Up to approximately 24 months

Laboratory parameters included clinical chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis. Participants with at least 1 Grade 3 or 4 Lab Abnormalities were reported.

Phase 2: Overall Response Rate (ORR) as Assessed by the Investigator According to RECIST, Version 1.1
Up to approximately 25 months

ORR is defined as the percentage of participants who achieve Complete Response (CR) and Partial Response (PR) (determined by the investigator) during the study according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) Version 1.1.

Quantification of Cell Death and Immune Cell Biomarkers by Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and In-Situ Hybridization (ISH) in Resected Tissue
1 or 3 days after microdose injection

Quantification of biomarker-positive and biomarker-negative cells will be performed within the tumor microenvironment around each of the injection sites of each resected patient sample by IHC and ISH. An aggregate analysis of this quantification may be done across patient samples to evaluate trends in tumor response. List of biomarkers evaluated may include biomarkers for cell death (e.g. cleaved caspase 3), T-cells (e.g. CD3, CD8/Granzyme B), and natural killer (NK) or myeloid cells (e.g. CD56/Granzyme B, CD86, CD68).

Secondary Endpoints

Phase 1: Cmax: Maximum Observed Plasma Concentration for TAK-981
Cycle 1 (each cycle is 21 days) Days 1 and 8 pre-dose and at multiple timepoints (up to 24 hours)
Phase 1: Tmax: Time to Reach the Maximum Plasma Concentration (Cmax) for TAK-981
Cycle 1 (each cycle is 21 days) Days 1 and 8 pre-dose and at multiple timepoints (up to 24 hours)
Phase 1: AUC0-t: Area Under the Plasma Concentration-time Curve From Time 0 to Time t Over the Dosing Interval for TAK-981
Cycle 1 (each cycle is 21 days) Days 1 and 8 pre-dose and at multiple timepoints (up to 24 hours)
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Study Design & Arms

AllocationNON_RANDOMIZED
MaskingNONE
ModelSEQUENTIAL
PurposeTREATMENT

Treatment Arms

ArmTypeDescription
Dose Escalation: TAK-981 40 mg + PembrolizumabEXPERIMENTALParticipants received TAK-981 40 mg, intravenous (IV) infusion, on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle and pembrolizumab 200 mg, IV infusion, as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle until the recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D) was determined (for a maximum of 24 months).
Dose Escalation: TAK-981 60 mg + PembrolizumabEXPERIMENTALParticipants received TAK-981 60 mg, intravenous (IV) infusion, on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle and pembrolizumab 200 mg, IV infusion, as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle until the RP2D was determined (for a maximum of 24 months).
Dose Escalation: TAK-981 90 mg + PembrolizumabEXPERIMENTALParticipants received TAK-981 90 mg, intravenous (IV) infusion, on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle and pembrolizumab 200 mg, IV infusion, as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle until the RP2D was determined (for a maximum of 24 months).
Dose Escalation: TAK-981 120 mg + PembrolizumabEXPERIMENTALParticipants received TAK-981 120 mg, intravenous (IV) infusion, on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle and pembrolizumab 200 mg, IV infusion, as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle until the RP2D was determined (for a maximum of 24 months).
Dose Expansion: Cohort A: Non-squamous NSCLC TAK-981 90 mgEXPERIMENTALParticipants with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion: Cohort A: Non-squamous NSCLC TAK-981 120 mgEXPERIMENTALParticipants with NSCLC received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion Phase: Cohort B: Cervical CancerEXPERIMENTALParticipants with cervical cancer received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion Phase: Cohort C: MSS-CRCEXPERIMENTALParticipants with microsatellite stable colorectal cancer (MSS-CRC) received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion Phase: Cohort D: Cutaneous MelanomaEXPERIMENTALParticipants with cutaneous melanoma received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion Phase: Cohort E: Squamous NSCLCEXPERIMENTALParticipants with squamous NSCLC received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
Dose Expansion Phase: Cohort F: CPI Refractory Squamous or Nonsquamous NSCLCEXPERIMENTALParticipants with checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) refractory squamous or non-squamous NSCLC received TAK-981 as IV infusion on Days 1, 4, 8 and 11 or Days 1 and 8 in each 21-day Treatment Cycle up to disease progression or 24-months and pembrolizumab 200 mg IV infusion as a fixed dose every 3 weeks on Day 1 of 21-day Treatment Cycle for a maximum of 24 months.
CIVO Microdose Injection of TAK-981, Cetuximab, and AvelumabEXPERIMENTALPatients who are scheduled for surgical biopsy or tumor resection surgery will be injected one day (Cohort 1) or three days (Cohort 2) prior to surgery using the CIVO device. Each needle of the CIVO device will deliver up to 8.3 microliters of solution, including a vehicle control (sterile saline) or subtherapeutic microdoses of TAK-981, cetuximab, avelumab, TAK-981 combined with cetuximab, or TAK-981 combined with avelumab. Each microdose is simultaneously injected in a columnar fashion through each of 8, 5, or 3 needles (in a device configuration determined by tumor dimensions) into a single solid tumor or effaced metastatic lymph node. Approximately six patients will be assigned to each time point cohort. Cohort assignment is not sequential and will be selected by the Investigator based on clinic logistics and patient scheduling. Should one cohort fill in advance of the other, sites will be directed by Presage to enroll patients into the second cohort only.

Interventions

NameTypeDescription
TAK-981DRUGTAK-981 IV infusion.
PembrolizumabDRUGPembrolizumab IV infusion.
CetuximabBIOLOGICALIntratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
AvelumabBIOLOGICALIntratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
TAK-981 + CetuximabCOMBINATION_PRODUCTIntratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
TAK-981 + AvelumabCOMBINATION_PRODUCTIntratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
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Eligibility Criteria

Age Range18 Years to N/A
SexALL
Healthy VolunteersNo
Study Sites52

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Has a histologically or cytologically documented, advanced (metastatic and/or unresectable) cancer as listed below that is incurable: Note: Prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy included in initial treatment may not be considered first- or later-line standard of care treatmen...

Countries:United StatesBrazilChinaCroatiaJapanLatviaLithuaniaPolandSwitzerland
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Competitive Landscape -Other Solid Tumors 9 trials (matched to "Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors")

Frequently asked questions about TAK-981

What is TAK-981 used for?

TAK-981 is an investigational small molecule being studied for the treatment of advanced or metastatic solid tumors and head and neck cancer. It is being developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (ticker: TAK). The drug is currently in Phase 1 clinical development and is not approved by regulatory authorities.

What does TAK-981 target?

TAK-981 is a small molecule being studied in oncology. Its specific molecular target has not been disclosed in available information. The drug is being evaluated for its potential to treat advanced or metastatic solid tumors and head and neck cancer, but its mechanism of action is not publicly detailed.

Who makes TAK-981?

TAK-981 is being developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a global biopharmaceutical company listed on the stock exchange under the ticker TAK. Takeda is conducting clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TAK-981 in patients with certain types of cancer.

What phase is TAK-981 in?

TAK-981 is in Phase 1 clinical development. It is an investigational drug, meaning it has not been approved by the FDA or other regulatory agencies. The drug is being studied in early-stage trials to assess its safety, tolerability, and potential efficacy in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors and head and neck cancer.

What clinical trials is TAK-981 in?

TAK-981 has been studied in two clinical trials. NCT04065555 was an early Phase 1 study of intratumoral microdosing of TAK-981 in head and neck cancer, with 12 participants. NCT04381650 was a Phase 1 study of TAK-981 given with pembrolizumab in advanced or metastatic solid tumors, with 161 participants. Both trials are completed.

Is TAK-981 the same as any other drug?

TAK-981 is not known to be the same as any other drug. It is a distinct investigational small molecule being developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. No alternative names have been associated with TAK-981 in available clinical trial information.