Merck Looks To Hedge Its Bets -- If Ivonescimab, From Summit, Turns Out To Be An Immuno-Oncology Juggernaut. Plunks Down $588 Million In China.

This is a "play the field" bet, to be sure. Summit posted pretty impressive results for its similar ivonescimab candidate -- in certain lung cancers, this past Summer. Both LM-299 and Summit's candidate -- beyond both being anti-PD-1 therapies -- they also work on a peptide called VEGF, against the cancerous cells. [My prior June 2024 backgrounder -- on Summit's China-only study success, here.]

So. . . Rahway may pay up to $3.3 billion (on milestones) if the LM-299 candidate reaches its potential. In the mean time, Keytruda is the gorilla in the room. Here's the latest, via Reuters reporting, this morning:

. . .[Merck & Co.] has licensed an early-stage cancer drug from a China-based biotech in an up to $3.3 billion deal, two months after a similar therapy from Summit Therapeutics outperformed its blockbuster Keytruda in a late-stage trial. . . .

The deal allows Merck to take over development of privately held LaNova Medicines' LM-299, the companies said on Thursday. The drug candidate targets a protein called PD-1, which prevents the immune system from killing cancerous cells. It also curbs levels of another protein called VEGF, which can encourage tumor growth if found in excess. . . .

Under the agreement, Merck will pay $588 million upfront. LaNova is also eligible to receive up to $2.7 billion in milestone payments.

In September, Summit -- and its partner Akeso -- released data that showed patients using their drug ivonescimab, which targets the same proteins, had significantly better survival rates than those on Keytruda. This class of drug has been attracting increased interest for deals. On Wednesday, German drugmaker BioNTech said it would acquire China's Biotheus to gain access to its so-called bi-specific antibody that targets PD-1 and VEGF. . . .

Now you know. Not really material at this point to Rahway -- but if it pans out, it might very well become a nice add-on to the pembrolizumab franchise -- a global $30 billion a year in peak sales, in a couple years.

Onward, smiling -- as I took the plunge from an old 12 Pro, to update -- to the iPhone 16 Pro, just this morning (and the "all bluetooth" setup / transfer interface worked flawlessly via AT&T!) -- yep, it is pretty darn. . . slick!

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