BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Merck KGaA returns Sym004 rights to Symphogen

January 30, 2015 2:46 AM UTC

Symphogen A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark) regained exclusive, worldwide rights to Sym004 from Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK), unwinding a 2012 deal. Both Merck and Symphogen said the decision was not related to new safety or efficacy results related to Sym004.

The combination of two anti- EGFR mAbs against two distinct and non-overlapping epitopes in the extracellular domain III of EGFR is in a Phase IIb trial to treat metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). It is also in a Phase Ib trial to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a Japanese Phase I trial in patients with solid tumors. Symphogen will continue the Phase IIb trial in mCRC but will not pursue the Phase Ib trial in NSCLC. Merck will complete the Japanese Phase I trial, after which it will transfer data to Symphogen. ...