Big pharma pair fail with I-O trial

Germany’s Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) and US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) have suffered a setback with their immuno-oncology (I-O) drug Bavencio (avelumab).

The pivotal Phase III Javelin trial investigating the PD-L1 drug as a third-line treatment for patients with unresectable, recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer did not meet its pre-specified primary endpoint of superior overall survival compared to chemotherapy.

Luciano Rossetti, executive vice president, global head of research & development (R&D) at the Biopharma business of Merck, said: “Gastric cancer in the third-line setting is a particularly hard-to-treat and heterogeneous disease, and importantly, this was the first trial conducted with a checkpoint inhibitor compared to an active chemotherapy comparator rather than placebo in a global patient population.