Merck's Anti-PD1 Melanoma Drugs Shrinks Tumors In Half of Patients

CHICAGO (TheStreet) -- Merck's (MRK) anti-PD-1 drug labrolizumab shrank tumors in 38 percent of advanced melanoma patients. At the best dose, 52 percent of the melanoma patients treated with the immune system-boosting drug experienced significant tumor shrinkage.

Updated results from the early-stage study are being presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Lambrolizumab is Merck's strongly competitive answer to Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) nivolumab. Both drugs work by dismantling a cloaking mechanism known as PD-1 used by cancer cells to hide from a patient's immune system. Roche (RHHBY) is developing a drug against a related target known as PDL-1.

The tumors responses to these anti-PD-1 and PDL-1 drugs are among the strongest ever seen in melanoma clinical trials. The ASCO meeting is buzzing about the potential for this new class of drugs to dramatically improve treatment for melanoma patients. The drugs are active in lung, kidney and breast cancers.

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Merck's Anti-PD1 Melanoma Drugs Shrinks Tumors In Half of Patients