Merck Launches Phase 3 Trial in China Evaluating MK-4280A (Favezelimab + Keytruda) vs. Chemotherapy in Relapsed/Refractory Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma

Intelligent Finance APP learned on November 21 that the official website of the Chinese Drug Clinical Trial Registration and Information Disclosure Platform announced that Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.US) has initiated a Phase 3 international multicenter (including China) clinical trial to compare the safety and efficacy of MK-4280A with chemotherapy in subjects with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). Public information shows that MK-4280A is a compound preparation consisting of the anti-LAG-3 antibody favezelimab (MK-4280) and the anti-PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda), both of which were developed by Merck & Co., Inc. It is worth mentioning that the results of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the combination therapy of these two products for cHL were disclosed at this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.

It is reported that in March this year, the US FDA approved the first anti-LAG-3 antibody therapy. Studies have shown that combining anti-LAG-3 antibodies with anti-PD-1 antibodies may achieve a synergistic activation effect on T cells.

At the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, MSD announced the Phase 1/2 clinical trial results of favezelimab in combination with Keytruda for the treatment of relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The ASCO abstract showed that in patients who had not received prior PD-1 inhibitor treatment, the favezelimab/Keytruda combination achieved an objective response rate of 73%, a complete response rate of 23%, and a median progression-free survival of 19 months. Investigators concluded that the combination therapy demonstrated tolerable safety and effective anti-tumor activity in patients with relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.