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Can’t Win Them All: Two Merck Oncology Trials Fail

Stalwarts Lynparza And Keytruda Miss Their Mark

 
• By Alaric DeArment

The company stopped a study of Lynparza in colorectal cancer for futility and announced a study of Keytruda/chemoradiation in head-and-neck cancer didn’t meet its primary endpoint.

Merck posted two back-to-back trial failures, but there are further opportunities ahead • Source: Shutterstock

Merck & Co., Inc. posted two Phase III trial failures – one of the PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda in unresected locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and another of the PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) in colorectal cancer (CRC) – back to back. However, while the news marks a setback for Merck’s oncology development program, Keytruda has a label for HNSCC and is in development for further settings of the disease that leave additional opportunities open, while Lynparza faces little in the way of serious competition in CRC.

Merck made the announcement for the Phase III LYNK-003 trial, testing the PARP inhibitor with or without Roche Holding AG’s Avastin (bevacizumab) in unresectable or metastatic CRC on 18...

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Merck & Co./Daiichi Pull Patritumab Deruxtecan BLA On Disappointing OS

 
• By Jessica Merrill

Patritumab deruxtecan is the lead antibody drug conjugate in a $22bn deal signed between the two partners, with the decision marking a disappointing setback