NGM’s Second Phase II Miss Raises Questions For Option Deal With Merck

NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. revealed a major clinical trial setback under its 2015 R&D partnership with Merck & Co., Inc. on 17 October, reporting that geographic atrophy candidate NGM621 missed its primary endpoint in the 320-patient Phase II CATALINA study. In the hours following the top-line data release, the South San Francisco biotech’s share price declined by more than two-thirds.

The setback in geographic atrophy follows last year’s Phase IIb failure of NGM’s wholly owned non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) candidate aldafermin (NGM313). (Also see "NGM Phase IIb NASH Failure Could Darken Competitors’ Prospects" - Scrip, 24 May, 2021