Benzinga | Apr 7, 2021 07:03AM EDT

Alkermes Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration And Supply Agreement With MSD To Evaluate Nemvaleukin Alfa In Combination With KEYTRUDA In Patients With Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Alkermes plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) today announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD (a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc. Kenilworth, NJ, USA) for a planned phase 3 study to evaluate nemvaleukin alfa ("nemvaleukin", formerly referred to as ALKS 4230), Alkermes' novel investigational engineered interleukin-2 (IL-2) variant immunotherapy, in combination with MSD's KEYTRUDA(r) (pembrolizumab), in comparison to investigator choice chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, Alkermes is responsible for conducting the phase 3 study, which is planned to initiate in the second half of 2021.

"We are pleased to collaborate with MSD to evaluate nemvaleukin in combination with KEYTRUDA in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, a patient population for which there are limited treatment options available and overall survival remains low. Importantly, there are no anti-PD-1 treatments currently approved for this tumor type," said Jessicca Rege, Ph.D., Vice President, Head of Oncology at Alkermes. "Nemvaleukin in combination with KEYTRUDA has demonstrated antitumor activity in heavily pre-treated patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer in the ongoing ARTISTRY-1 study, with durable and deepening responses observed. We look forward to initiating this phase 3 study to further evaluate the potential clinical utility of this combination in this tumor type and advancing our interactions with regulatory authorities related to potential registration strategies for the combination in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer."