Home health remedies Pfizer nixes multiple Bavencio tests, plus an early Inlyta-Keytruda combo trial

Pfizer nixes multiple Bavencio tests, plus an early Inlyta-Keytruda combo trial

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In Pfizer’s most recent clinical program dump, the New York pharma pulled the plug on several studies of its Merck KGaA-shared immuno-oncology drug Bavencio. And one early trial pairing Inlyta with Merck & Co.’s I-O star Keytruda also went down the drain.

Pfizer terminated a slew of studies testing Bavencio in combination with its own experimental drugs, as well as one monotherapy trial.

Phase 2 studies testing Bavencio alongside investigational OX40 agonist PF-04518600 and/or anti-4-1BB/CD137 drug utomilumab (PF-05082566) got the ax, Pfizer revealed in its fourth-quarter pipeline upgrade.

Information is thin as to why Pfizer nixed the trials, described simply as tests in solid tumors. Other combo tests survived, including an ongoing investigator-sponsored phase 2 examining three different Bavencio pairings—with PF-04518600, utomilumab and Pfizer-acquired Array BioPharma’s MEK inhibitor binimtinib—in triple-negative breast cancer. Its primary completion date is set in mid-2020, according to clinicaltrials.gov.

RELATED: Pfizer, Merck KGaA’s Bavencio flunks study in hard-to-treat gastric cancer

Meanwhile, a phase 3 of Bavencio as maintenance therapy for prevention of stomach cancer progression after an initial round of chemo has officially ended. It’s no surprise, however; the drug failed to top continuation of chemo or best supportive care at prolonging patients’ lives—not even in PD-L1-positive population.

But Pfizer recently read out positively for another Bavencio first-line maintenance trial. A phase 3 dubbed Javelin Bladder 100—which has a similar design as the failed Javelin Gastric 100—showed Bavencio as a monotherapy could help locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer patients live significantly longer than best supportive care.

RELATED: Pfizer, Merck KGaA’s Bavencio posts first-in-class bladder cancer win

It marks the first such win for an immuno-oncology agent in an area where chemo still constitutes the standard of care. At last year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, investigators also reported a phase 2 trial of Keytruda in the same frontline maintenance setting showed a response in 22% of bladder cancer patients, versus 12% in the placebo arm.

In a less expected move, a phase 1 trial that combines Keytruda with Pfizer’s VEGFR inhibitor Inlyta was also chopped. Pfizer didn’t immediately respond to a FiercePharma request for comment on the reason.

Last April, the Keytruda-Inlyta pairing racked up an FDA nod in previously untreated kidney cancer only to be immediately followed by the Bavencio-Inlyta regimen.

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