Merck and Pfizer's Phase III JAVELIN head and neck 100 study to be terminated

16 March 2020

EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Germany’s Merck KGaA (MRK: DE), and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) today announced a disappointing update from the Phase III JAVELIN head and neck 100 study evaluatingBavencio (avelumab) in addition to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) versus standard-of-care CRT in patients with untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN).

Already-approved Bavencio has previously failed in the Phase III JAVELIN Gastric 100 study and the Phase III JAVELIN Ovarian PARP 100 study.

Merck’s shares were down 9.7% at 82.44 euros by early afternoon trading, but that was against a background of plunging markets caused by the coronavirus and other factors.

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