Merck & Co trialing MK-3475 with GSK’s pazopanib in renal cancer

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) says it has initiated a clinical trial to evaluate the combination of the company’s investigational anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, MK-3475, and UK-based GlaxoSmithKline’s (LSE: GSK) orally administered kinase inhibitor, pazopanib, in advanced renal cell carcinoma.

“Collaborations like this are central to Merck’s strategy to evaluate the potential of MK-3475 for the treatment of cancer,” said Iain Dukes, senior vice president, licensing and external scientific affairs, at Merck Research Laboratories, adding: “We look forward to initiating further collaborations to investigate MK-3475 in combination with other anti-cancer agents across a range of tumor types.”

Merck and GSK entered a collaboration to study MK-3475 with pazopanib and other agents in the UK drug major’s portfolio in the future. This Phase I/II clinical trial is designed to evaluatethe safety and efficacy of a combination of MK-3475 and pazopanibin treatment naive patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. Further details of the collaboration were not disclosed.