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BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Genmab (GMAB) announced Saturday that their investigational bispecific antibody acasunlimab improved survival rates among lung cancer patients in combination with Merck’s (MRK) immunotherapy Keytruda.
Citing early results from a mid-stage trial for the candidate, the companies said acasunlimab with Keytruda, also known as pembrolizumab, when administered every six weeks led to 17.5 months of median overall survival ((mOS)).
In comparison, acasunlimab monotherapy and acasunlimab + pembrolizumab (every three-week dosing schedule) led to mOS rates of 5.5 months and 8.6 months, respectively.
The drug combination with every six-week dosing schedule was also linked to a 12-month overall survival rate of 69% among patients.
The readout was based on an interim analysis of an ongoing Phase 2 trial for 113 patients with PD-L(1)-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
The tolerability of experimental therapy was in line with previously established safety profiles of individual drugs, and most of the treatment-related adverse events were Grade 1 and 2.