
Bavencio’s ovarian disappointment reveals a low-key industry presence
While Parp inhibitors are transforming the treatment of ovarian cancer – at least for a subgroup of patients – the same cannot be said of checkpoint blockers. And on Friday one of the few anti-PD-(L)1 agents with an active programme in this tumour type, Merck KGaA/Pfizer’s Bavencio, flunked its first-line study, Javelin Ovarian 100. This trial had progression-free survival as its primary endpoint, but interim analysis suggested futility, causing it to be terminated. Javelin Ovarian 200, Bavencio’s study in platinum-refractory disease, continues, as do trials in combination with Parp inhibitors. But a search of clinicaltrials.gov reveals a very low-key industry presence overall, with the vast majority of checkpoint blocker studies in ovarian cancer being sponsored by academia. Other notable exceptions include the uncontrolled Keynote-100 trial of Merck & Co’s Keytruda in second-line disease, and the phase III Imagyn-050 test of Roche’s Tecentriq in combination with Avastin, in front-line treatment of tumours that also include fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers.
Failed studies of anti-PD-(L)1 antibodies across various cancer types | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Keytruda | Opdivo | Tecentriq | Imfinzi | Bavencio | |
Merck & Co | Bristol-Myers Squibb | Roche | Astrazeneca | Merck KGaA/Pfizer | |
Urothelial | Imvigor-211 (2L)* | ||||
Colorectal | Imblaze-370 (3L)** | ||||
Gastric | Keynote-061 (2L) | ||||
Glioblastoma | Checkmate-143 (2L) | ||||
NSCLC | Checkmate-026 (1L) | Arctic (3L) Mystic (1L)* |
Javelin Lung 200 (2L) | ||
SCLC | Checkmate-331 (2L) Checkmate-451 (1L)* |
||||
Head & neck | Keynote-040 (2L) | Eagle (2L)* | |||
Ovarian | Javelin Ovarian 100 (1L) | ||||
*CTLA-4 combo; **Cotellic combo; 1L=1st line; 2L=2nd line; 3L=3rd line. |