Merck's Drug Trial Fails: No Survival Benefit for 441 Colorectal Cancer Patients, Keytruda Hit

Merck recently announced that its experimental drug, when combined with its leading treatment Keytruda, did not achieve the desired outcomes in a late-stage clinical trial involving patients with a specific type of colorectal cancer. This failure is the latest in a series of setbacks for combination trials involving Keytruda. With concerns about losing patent protection for Keytruda in the coming decade, Merck is keen on expanding the drug's application to cancer types that have yet to benefit from immunotherapy.

In the past few months, Merck terminated clinical trials of Keytruda in combination treatments for both skin and lung cancers. The colorectal cancer trial in question included 441 participants. Unfortunately, the findings revealed that patients receiving the experimental drug favezelimab in conjunction with Keytruda did not experience a significant improvement in overall survival compared to those receiving standard care.

Data from the National Institutes of Health highlight the gravity of colorectal cancer in the United States, where over 150,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. This disease predominantly affects the colon or rectal areas.

Favezelimab operates by blocking the interaction between a protein called LAG-3 and specific molecules on tumor cell surfaces. This blockade triggers an immune response aimed at curbing tumor growth. Furthermore, favezelimab combined with Keytruda has been assessed for its therapeutic potential against various blood disorders and solid tumors.