Pfizer/Merck KGAA's Bavencio Gastric Cancer Failure Not As Bad As It Seems

Disappointing outcome for the companies' PD-L1 inhibitor avelumab in late-stage gastric cancer may not have implications for the drug in more valuable indications, like lung cancer.

3d render illustration of human digestive system - front view

The failure of Merck KGAA/Pfizer Inc.'s immuno-oncology latecomer Bavencio (avelumab) to significantly improve overall survival in a Phase III third-line gastric cancer study is a blow, but it may not be as bad as it appears, because the market is small and the trial design was more rigorous than competitors' efforts.

The companies reported Nov. 28 that Bavencio as a single agent failed the primary endpoint of the global Phase III...

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