Merck KGaA and Pfizer enter second deal for avelumab combo research, now with Transgene

Hot on the heels of an agreement to trial oncology drug candidate avelumab with the USA’s Vaccinex in lung cancer, German’s Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) and its partner Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) have now joined forces with French biotech firm Transgene (Euronext: TNG) for a study with the latter’s TG4001 in head and neck cancer.

Specifically, Transgene will sponsor a Phase I/II study evaluating the potential of the therapeutic vaccine candidate TG4001 in combination with avelumab, an investigational fully human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of human papilloma virus- (HPV-) positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), after failure of standard therapy. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

Avelumab is being developed by Merck under a collaboration with Pfizer through an alliance signed in 2014 that could generate up to $2.85 billion for the German firm.