Merck, Eisai: Keytruda/Lenvima Combo Fails in 1st-Line Endometrial Cancer Study

By Colin Kellaher

Merck & Co. and Eisai on Friday said a late-stage study of the cancer drugs Keytruda plus Lenvima as a first-line treatment in certain patients with endometrial cancer missed its key goals.

The companies said the Phase 3 study of the combination didn't meet its dual primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial carcinoma whose disease is mismatch repair proficient/not microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient/not microsatellite instability-high.

Merck, based in Rahway, N.J., and Tokyo-based Eisai said the safety profile of Keytruda plus Lenvima in the study was consistent with previously reported data on the combination.

The companies said they remain confident in the proven benefit of Keytruda plus Lenvima for the treatment of appropriate patients with certain types of previously treated advanced endometrial carcinoma, and that they and will continue to study the combination in patients with other types of difficult-to-treat cancers.

Eisai and Merck formed a collaboration in 2018 to jointly develop, manufacture and commercialize Lenvima as monotherapy and in combination with Merck's blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda.

The combination is approved in the U.S., the EU, Japan and other countries for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and certain types of advanced endometrial carcinoma.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2023 07:21 ET (12:21 GMT)

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