Merck Acquires VelosBio for $2.75 Billion to Advance ROR1-Targeted ADC VLS-101 in Oncology Pipeline

On November 5, MSD and VelosBio announced that they had reached an agreement under which MSD would acquire all outstanding shares of VelosBio for $2.75 billion in cash. VelosBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing first-in-class cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1). VelosBio’s primary investigational candidate is VLS-101, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting ROR1, currently being evaluated in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, respectively. This acquisition strengthens MSD’s oncology pipeline through the addition of VLS-101. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

VLS-101 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) comprising a monoclonal antibody targeting ROR1 linked to the chemotherapeutic agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE). Upon binding of the antibody to ROR1 on cancer cells, MMAE is released to destroy the cancer cells. VLS-101 has demonstrated potent antitumor activity in mouse models of human hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. VLS-101 is currently in clinical development for patients with previously treated hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The U.S. FDA has granted VLS-101 orphan drug designation and Fast Track designation for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).

In October 2020, VelosBio announced the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT04504916) to evaluate VLS-101 for the treatment of patients with solid tumors, including triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), hormone receptor-positive and/or HER2-positive breast cancer, and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In early clinical trials, VLS-101 demonstrated manageable safety and preliminary signs of antitumor activity. Results from a Phase 1 clinical trial, scheduled to be presented at the 62nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (December 5–8, 2020), showed that VLS-101 induced objective clinical responses, including complete responses, in 47% (n=7/15) of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and 80% (n=4/5) of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Patients enrolled in this Phase 1 trial had experienced disease progression or relapse after extensive prior treatment with other anticancer therapies. Furthermore, VelosBio is developing a preclinical pipeline of next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and ROR1-targeted bispecific antibodies, which hold potential for combination therapy with VLS-101 through alternative mechanisms of tumor cell killing.

References:

[1] Merck to Acquire VelosBio. Retrieved 2020-11-05, from https://www.merck.com/news/merck-to-acquire-velosbio/

Source: Jike Pharmaceutical News

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