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Merck & Co. Jumps Into PD-1/VEGF Bispecific Race With LaNova Deal

 
• By Jessica Merrill

The company will in-license LM-299, gaining a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody that could help it defend its blockbuster PD-1 franchise against looming competition.

(Shutterstock)
Key Takeaways
  • Merck will pay LaNova $588m plus up to $2.7bn in milestone payments to gain a global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize LM-299, a bispecific antibody targeting PD-1/L1 and VEGF.
  • The deal comes after Akeso and Summit announced positive Phase III data for a similar drug in NSCLC, showing a benefit over Merck’s Keytruda alone, although the study was run only in China.
  • LaNova’s LM-299 is only in Phase I development in China, so Merck will need to ramp up development in Western trials quickly.

Just two months after Summit Therapeutics and Akeso announced that the PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody ivonescimab beat Merck & Co

Merck will pay $588m plus up to $2

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