Merck and Daiichi team up again
Only seven months after buying the bispecific specialist Harpoon for $680m Merck & Co is licensing out the lead asset from the deal, the DLL3-targeting MK-6070. However, this doesn’t seem as sinister as it might first appear: the deal is with Merck’s existing partner Daiichi Sankyo, and the key to the latest tie-up could be ifinatamab deruxtecan, the B7-H3-targeting ADC the companies are jointly developing. Both MK-6070 and ifinatamab deruxtecan are being tested in small-cell lung cancer, and the companies noted today that they would study the assets together in certain SCLC patients, as well as looking at “other potential combinations”. This could provide a clue about MK-6070’s pivotal trial, details of which still haven’t emerged; before the deal, Harpoon promised to start this in 2024. Daiichi is paying Merck $170m up front and the partners will share costs and profits worldwide, except in Japan where Merck will retain rights. DLL3 has seen a resurgence since Amgen’s T-cell engager Imdelltra posted promising results at ESMO last year, and the pipeline has swelled since ApexOnco last carried out this analysis. MK-6070 still looks like one the leading contenders behind Imdelltra, if pivotal development does indeed start soon.
Oncology assets targeting DLL3
Project | Company | Modality | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Imdelltra | Amgen | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | AA for 2nd-line SCLC May 2024 |
MK-6070 | Daiichi/ Merck & Co (via Harpoon) | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | Merck & Daiichi sign collaboration Aug 2024; ph1/2 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
BI 764532 | Boehringer Ingelheim | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | Ph2 Dareon-5 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
PT217 | Phanes Therapeutics | DLL3 x CD47 bispecific MAb | Ph2 Skybridge in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
ZG006 | Suzhou Zelgen | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | China ph1/2 trials in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
RO7616789 | Roche/Chugai | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | Ph1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
LB2102 | Novartis/Legend | DLL3 Car-T | Ph1 in SCLC |
ZL-1310 | Zai Lab | Anti-DLL3 ADC | Ph1 in SCLC |
BHP01 | Chengdu Brilliant | α-PD-L1/DLL3 Car-T | China ph1 in SCLC |
BL-M14D1 | Baili (SystImmune) | Anti-DLL3 ADC | China ph1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
FZ-AD005 | Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharmaceutical | Anti-DLL3 ADC | China ph1 in solid tumours |
QLS31904 | Qilu Pharmaceutical | Anti-DLL3 T-cell engager | China ph1 in solid tumours |
SNC115 | Simnova Biotechnology | DLL3 Car-NK cells | China ph1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumours |
Source: OncologyPipeline.
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