Keytruda/epacadostat combo crashes in PhIII melanoma study, raising questions about the future of IDO for Incyte
A closely-watched Phase III study combining Merck’s PD-1 star Keytruda with Incyte’s IDO1 drug epacadostat for metastatic melanoma has failed, casting a pall over the future of this combination approach.
Absent a significant improvement in progression-free survival, as well as the likely failure of the drug combination to extend overall survival, the investigators are halting the study. Incyte stuck with the top-line results in their release, promising to roll out the full data set later. And they made it clear in a call with analysts this morning that the ECHO-301 study failure “has a negative impact on the probability of success of the other (combination) studies” — sending a shock wave through the I/O field.
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