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Merck KGaA Discontinues Two Cancer Drug Trials After Failures

Merck KGaA discontinued the Phase III INTR@PID Lung 037 trial for bintrafusp alfa (anti-PD-L1/TGF-beta trap), co-developed with GSK, due to an Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommendation that it would not meet the primary endpoint of progression-free survival in stage IV NSCLC patients with high PD-L1 expression. 1 Merck KGaA also abandoned the Phase III TrilynX trial (NCT04459715) for xevinapant, an IAP antagonist licensed from Debiopharm for $1.08bn, as it was unlikely to achieve the primary endpoint of event-free survival in unresected locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. 2 No direct mention of SpringWorks in the trial discontinuations; bintrafusp alfa stems from a 2019 GSK collaboration (up to $4.5bn potential), while xevinapant is from Debiopharm. 1 2 Following the announcements, Merck KGaA ADRs fell 1.7% and shares dropped over 10% on Frankfurt exchange; GSK ADRs fell 1.6%. 1 2 Merck continues evaluating bintrafusp alfa in other trials (...

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