Phanes: Phanes Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement with Merck to Evaluate PT886 in Combination with KEYTRUDA (Pembrolizumab)

Phanes Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck to study PT886, its first-in-class bispecific antibody targeting claudin 18.2 and CD47, in... Phanes Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Merck (known as MSD outside the US and Canada) to study PT886, its first-in-class bispecific antibody targeting claudin 18.2 and CD47, in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), in patients with claudin 18.2 positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinomas. PT886 was assembled using Phanes' proprietary bispecific antibody platforms PACbody? and SPECpair? and was granted orphan drug designation (ODD) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer by the FDA last year. Phanes is currently enrolling patients in a multi-center Phase I clinical trial of PT886 in the U.S. evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and preliminary efficacy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic gastric, GEJ, or pancreatic cancer that have progressed after all available standard therapy or for which standard therapy has proven to be ineffective, intolerable, or is considered inappropriate (NCT05482893). The next phase of Phanes' study is investigating the therapeutic potential of PT886 as a combination therapy in gastric, GEJ and pancreatic cancers. The clinical collaboration with Merck will evaluate PT886 in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in patients with claudin 18.2 positive gastric or GEJ adenocarcinomas with or without chemotherapy.