Bioncotech enters clinical trial collaboration with Merck

Spanish clinical-stage, immune-oncology company Bioncotech Therapeutics has entered into a Phase II clinical trial collaboration with a subsidiary of US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the USA and Canada.

The collaboration will focus on the Phase II clinical evaluation of the combination of BO-112, Bioncotech’s lead program, and Keytruda (pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with select advanced-stage solid tumors with liver metastases. The trial will evaluate if the combination of stimulation of the innate immune system by direct intra-tumoral administration of BO-112, combined with systemic administration of pembrolizumab, shows safety and efficacy in patients with tumors that are poorly or only moderately responsive to monotherapy with an anti-PD1 agent.

“This collaboration is an important next step in the clinical development of BO-112 and the potential of the innate immune system and intra-tumoral route of administration to provide improved outcomes for cancer patients,” said Marisol Quintero, chief executive of Bioncotech, adding: “We consider MSD, with its extensive expertise in immune-oncology, as the ideal partner for Bioncotech to complete this study.”