Hayward, Calif.-based Reflexion Medical Inc. reported a clinical collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc., of Kenilworth, N.J., to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with biology-guided radiotherapy (BgRT) in multiple late-stage cancers. The goal is to establish whether treating multiple tumors with BgRT, a novel external beam radiotherapy treatment (EBRT) modality in development, is safe and amplifies Keytruda’s therapeutic effect.
In data taken from three expansion cohorts of Exelixis Inc.’s phase Ib study of Cabometyx and Tecentriq in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors, a 27% objective response rate was seen in those with immune checkpoint inhibitor-pretreated non-small-cell lung cancer.
Gone from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting were the packed halls of McCormick Place in Chicago and the excited bustle of scientists reacquainting with each other at the always data-rich event. ASCO’s annual confab, held online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, still managed to pull off what former president Howard Burris called a “resounding success,” with about 40,000 registrants, similar to previous years.
Allogene Therapeutics Inc. investors will have to wait for an update in the second half of this year to find out more about whether off-the-shelf ALLO-501 can durably stand up to autologous CAR T-cell therapies, but early data disclosed at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is creating buzz in the meantime.
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