Pfizer Returns Bavencio Rights To Merck KGaA, Closing An IO Era

The arrangement ends a nearly 10-year collaboration between Pfizer and Merk KGaA on the PD-L1 inhibitor that, despite some success, never reached its ultimate goal.

door closing
Pfizer closed the door on its Bavencio collaboration • Source: Shutterstock

Merck KGaA will regain exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the PD-L1 antibody Bavencio (avelumab) from Pfizer Inc., underscoring a failure to achieve their original long-term goal of establishing a backbone brand for a wide range of immuno-oncology combination regimens.

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