Monday, December 9, 2024

Merck's $2.75 Billion Buyout Of San Diego-Based ADC Developer VelosBio (A Private Co.) Pays Off...


True enough, this is based on a very small (only 15 patients) study -- and some fairly significant side effects remain a concern. But these are people with very few other options, given the severity of the blood-borne cancers they are facing.

So, these study results mean a Phase 3 clinical trial will begin shortly -- and an FDA filing after that -- for the candidate called zilovertamab vedotin, brought in to Rahway by the purchase of VelosBio in November of 2020. [That was during the peak of COVID. . . a time that seems long passed.] Here's the latest, from the cogent keyboards -- at BioSpace:

. . .Merck on Sunday unveiled initial data from the Phase II waveLINE-007 study, demonstrating that its investigational antibody-drug conjugate zilovertamab vedotin achieved a 100% complete response rate when used as part of a treatment regimen in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

The pharma presented these findings at the ongoing 66th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH 2024), being held in San Diego.

In a note over the weekend, BMO Capital Markets analysts called data for Merck’s ADC “very competitive. . . .”

In the study, all 15 patients treated with 1.75 mg/kg of zilovertamab vedotin, in combination with the anti-cancer regimen R-CHP—cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone and rituximab—reached complete response, as assessed using a PET scan and a CT or MRI scan. . . .


Now you know -- and again, not yet remotely material, as larger clinical trials are needed to determine the normalized rate of any severe side effects, here. Onward, smiling. . . as it again does offer new hope to people suffering with cancers (previously considered mostly untreatable).

नमस्ते

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