Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo and US-based Merck (MSD outside of the US and Canada) have expanded their existing collaboration to include Merck’s MK-6070.
In October last year, the two companies initially collaborated for the global co-development and co-commercialisation of three investigational DXd antibody-drug conjugates.
The three ADC drugs include patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd), ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) and raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd).
Under the expanded partnership, the two companies will jointly develop and commercialise MK-6070 throughout the world, except in Japan, where Merck will retain its exclusive rights.
Also, Merck Merck will receive an upfront cash payment of $170m and, will be solely responsible for manufacturing and supply for MK-6070.
The two companies will share R&D and commercialisation expenses, along with profits worldwide, except for Japan, where Daiichi Sankyo will receive a royalty based on sales.
Merck Research Laboratories president Dean Li said: “Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive, fast-growing form of lung cancer and new treatment approaches are urgently needed.
“We are pleased to build upon our collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo and look forward to evaluating the combination of MK-6070 and ifinatamab deruxtecan as a novel two-pronged approach targeting the underlying biology of small cell lung cancer along with other forms of cancer.”
MK-6070 is an investigational T-cell engager that targets DLL3, an inhibitory canonical Notch ligand highly expressed in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and neuroendocrine tumours.
The drug is currently being evaluated in a phase 1/2 clinical trial, as a monotherapy to treat advanced cancers with expression of DLL3 and in combination with atezolizumab in SCLC.
In March 2022, MK-6070 received the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of SCLC.
Merck and Daiichi Sankyo are planning to evaluate MK-6070 in combination with ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) to treat certain patients with SCLC, along with other potential combinations.
Daiichi Sankyo R&D global head Ken Takeshita said: “Expanding our oncology pipeline with a DLL3 T-cell engager further supports Daiichi Sankyo’s strategy to create new standards of care for patients with cancer worldwide.
“We look forward to continuing our relationship with Merck with the addition of MK-6070 as it provides potential synergies with our established antibody-drug conjugate collaboration, particularly ifinatamab deruxtecan, and demonstrates our shared commitment to advancing new medicines for patients.”
