A combination of Merck’s experimental drug and blockbuster therapy Keytruda had failed a late-stage trial testing it in previously treated patients with a type of colorectal cancer, it announced last week.
This is the latest failure in a set of trials studying a combination involving Keytruda – as the company seeks to expand its use in types of cancers not yet treated by immunotherapies while facing a loss of patent protection for the drug at the end of the decade.
Reuters reports that over the past few months, Merck has discontinued trials that tested a Keytruda combination in skin or lung cancer.
The trial for colorectal cancer enrolled 441 patients, where the participants who took the experimental drug favezelimab along with Keytruda did not show significant improvement in overall survival compared with those on the standard-of-care treatment.
Favezelimab works by preventing a protein called LAG-3 from binding to certain molecules on tumour cells, activating the body’s immune response and thereby hopefully reducing tumour growth.
The favezelimab-Keytruda combination is also being evaluated as a treatment for types of blood disorders and solid tumours.
Reuters article – Merck’s colorectal cancer therapy fails late-stage trial (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
US approves Keytruda Tx based on specific genetic traits
Merck, Eisai skin cancer drug trial fails to achieve goals
US cancer trial’s unexpected result: remission in every patient