Big Pharma Continues to Invest in Immuno-Oncology Innovation

Print 26 August 2015
Peter Winter / BioWorld

Big pharmas are continuing to exhibit a healthy appetite for deal making, particularly for early stage therapeutic assets. Last week, for example, Merck & Co. Inc. scooped up a small Israeli biotech, Ccam Biotherapeutics Ltd., to add its immuno-oncology (I-O) pipeline. The space is hot and like many big pharmas, Merck is “scouring the world, looking for immunomodulatory agents,” according to Eric Rubin, vice president and therapeutic area head of oncology early stage development at Merck Research Laboratories. (See BioWorld Today, July 29, 2015.)

The pharma brings into the fold a next-generation monoclonal antibody (MAb) targeting the immune checkpoint protein known as carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1), paying $95 million in cash up front, with a further $510 million earmarked for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments.

Earlier this year Ccam received FDA approval to begin a phase I trial of CM-24, an immunomodulatory monoclonal antibody directed against CEACAM1, which has been shown in studies to be different from other checkpoint pathways such as PD-1 in that it is both up-regulated in T cells and overexpressed in cancer cells.

EXCITING TIMES

These are exciting times in cancer research as pharma and biotech companies ramp up their focus on I-O strategies employing both monotherapy as well as combination drugs in an effort to overcome various cancers.

It was a sentiment echoed by Ken Frazier, chairman and CEO of Merck, on a conference call to discuss its second quarter results noting it is a propitious time for biomedical research generally with “the introduction of breakthrough therapies and in some cases cures for some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases.”

In oncology, the company is building on its PD-1-targeting Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for melanoma, which received FDA clearance almost a year ago. Sales of the drug have reached $110 million. According to Adam Schechter, president, Global Human Health at Merck, Keytruda is now the number one therapy used to treat melanoma in the U.S.

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