Merck, AZ, Roche, BMS work off grid for mix-and-match immuno-oncology

In the three months running up to the annual ASCO meeting in Chicago, Merck & Co, AstraZeneca, Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb each announced deals with external companies designed to strengthen the clinical hands of their most advanced immune-oncology products (Table 1). Most are clinical trial collaborations putting a second-drug overlay on a checkpoint inhibition canvas.