The highly lucrative immuno-oncology space continues to attract attention and shows no signs of slowing down with another deal being announced. Earlier this week, Merck & Co. Inc. MRK entered into a collaboration with Eisai Co., Ltd. ESALY for the evaluation of the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Merck’s Keytruda (anti-PD-1 therapy) in combination with Eisai’s oncology compounds, including Lenvima (a multi-targeting RTK inhibitor) and Halaven (a microtubule dynamics inhibitor) across multiple studies.
The studies will include a multicenter, open-label phase Ib/II study on Lenvima plus Keytruda in select solid tumors and an open-label, single-arm, multicenter phase Ib/II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Halaven plus Keytruda in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. While the financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, the studies are expected to commence in the second half of 2015.
We note that Keytruda (advanced melanoma) was the first anti-PD-1 therapy to gain approval in the U.S. While Lenvima is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of patients suffering from locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, Halaven is indicated for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have undergone at least two chemotherapeutic regimens for metastatic breast cancer.
Apart from Eisai, Merck is collaborating with several companies including Eli Lilly LLY for the evaluation of Keytruda for several types of cancer either alone or in combination with other therapies.
We note that Keytruda registered sales of $50 million in its first full quarter in the market. Meanwhile, Merck continues to work on expanding Keytruda’s label further and is currently planning to seek FDA approval for an advanced non-small cell lung cancer indication in the middle of this year.
Merck currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the health care sector is Horizon Pharma plc HZNP carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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