Merck's Keytruda and Citius' Lymphir combo trial shows promising results

The combination of Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Citius Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: CTXR) Lymphir (denileukin diftitox-cxdl) showed promising preliminary results in an investigator-initiated Phase I clinical trial for cancer patients with recurrent solid tumors.

Results from the study, which focused on gynecological malignant tumors, were presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 2024 Annual Meeting and announced today by Citius Oncolgoy, a Nasdaq traded subsidiary of Citius Pharma, whose shares rose 12.2% to $0.46 in early trading.

In August, Citius received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Lymphir immunotherapy for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) – a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that affects men twice as often as women and is typically first diagnosed in patients between the ages of 50 and 60 years of age. Lymphir is the only systemic treatment for relapsed or refractory (r/r) CTCL to target the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor on malignant T-cells and Tregs.