Merck & Co. and Pfizer Collaboration Working as Combo Drug Bears Fruit in Small Study
An experimental Pfizer drug that helps the immune system fight cancer showed early promise against a variety of cancers when used with Merck & Co's immunotherapy Keytruda in a small clinical trial, according to data released on Wednesday.
The first wave of successful cancer immunotherapies, such as Keytruda, block mechanisms that tumors use to evade the immune system. Pfizer's utomilumab, which targets an antibody known as 4-1BB, stimulates a more intense immune system attack. The Pfizer drug has already shown encouraging early results against a form of blood cancer when used with Roche's Rituxan.
The first wave of successful cancer immunotherapies, such as Keytruda, block mechanisms that tumors use to evade the immune system. Pfizer's utomilumab, which targets an antibody known as 4-1BB, stimulates a more intense immune system attack. The Pfizer drug has already shown encouraging early results against a form of blood cancer when used with Roche's Rituxan.