A Previously $600 Million Bio-Bucks Collab With Merck -- At Seagen -- Will "Step Back", On Ladiratuzumab Vedotin Combo Trials...

While the data does also suggest there are other pathways showing better efficacy in combination with juggernaut Keytruda, it should not escape notice that Pfizer will own Seagen very soon, and Merck is likely in no hurry to spend cash R&D that simply gets funneled up to consolidated Pfizer coffers.

But as I say, the Merck/Seagen collab will roll forward on other candidates -- and this mothballing is driven by hard data, as well.

In any event, here's the latest, from Fierce Biotech:

. . .The company -- which is in the process of being acquired by Pfizer -- briefly noted in a second-quarter earnings filing Thursday that ladiratuzumab vedotin, or LV, is being deprioritized. Merck confirmed in an email Thursday afternoon that the company is in the process of discontinuing the program.

"LV has been shown to be clinically active with a tolerable safety profile, however, the emerging treatment landscape with newer therapeutics introduces a higher efficacy threshold," Seagen said in a statement to Fierce Biotech.

Merck in September 2020 ponied up $600 million for the ADC, alongside a $1 billion investment in Seagen, at the time known as Seattle Genetics. The companies planned to co-develop LV in combination with Keytruda for breast cancer and other solid tumors. The therapy was in phase 2 testing at the time but little has been detailed about the clinical program since. LV could have been a rival to Gilead Sciences’ Trodelvy. . . .

Now you know. . . and so, on a Friday, late -- good night, now to all of good will. . . .

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