No quick redemption for GlaxoSmithKline’s $4B alliance with Merck KGaA as bispecific cancer drug flunks a second trial
GlaxoSmithKline’s $4 billion bispecific cancer drug alliance is taking another hit.
Just weeks after revealing a Phase III setback in non-small cell lung cancer, its partners at Merck KGaA reported that bintrafusp alfa — a fusion protein designed to block both TGF-β and PD-L1 — also missed the mark as a second-line treatment of metastatic biliary tract cancer.
While the German pharma did observe some single-agent activity, with an objective response rate of 10.1% as adjudicated by an independent review committee, it failed to meet the pre-defined threshold that the company was looking for in a regulatory filing.
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