Eisai, Merck: New Data in Study of Lenvima-Keytruda Combo in 3 Cancers

Eisai Co., Ltd. and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced results from presentations of new data and analyses of LENVIMA (lenvatinib), an orally available kinase inhibitor discovered by Eisai, in combination with Merck’s & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A.’s anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in three different tumor types – metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Abstract #11147), metastatic melanoma (Abstract #11187) and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (Abstract #11201).

These data from the Study 111/KEYNOTE-146 Phase 1b/2 trial will be presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in Washington, D.C. from November 9-11. In the interim analyses of the studies across three tumor types, the LENVIMA and KEYTRUDA combination demonstrated encouraging anti-tumor activity and was generally well tolerated. These data support further evaluation of the combination. LENVIMA and KEYTRUDA are not approved for use in combination in any cancer types today.

“We are increasingly confident that these interim analyses of new clinical trial data on the combination of LENVIMA and KEYTRUDA in non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma and urothelial cancer continue to verify the potential of this combination,” said Dr. Takashi Owa, Vice President and Chief Medicine Creation Officer, Oncology Business Group at Eisai. “Through our collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A., we are doing our utmost to be able to provide this combination to patients in need of new treatment options as soon as possible.”

“These early promising data being presented support the clinical strategy behind our study of KEYTRUDA in combination with LENVIMA across a range of different cancers,” said Dr. Jonathan Cheng, Vice President, Oncology Clinical Research, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. Research Laboratories. “We look forward to continuing our broad clinical research effort in collaboration with Eisai to evaluate these two therapies in combination, with the goal of improving treatment outcomes for people living with cancer.”

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