MedPacto partners with AZ, Merck for combo trials

MedPacto Inc. (Suwon, South Korea) partnered with Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) to evaluate the biotech's vactosertib (TEW-7197) in combinations with a checkpoint inhibitor from each pharma.

MedPacto plans to start a pair of Phase Ib/IIa trials in South Korea next quarter. The first will evaluate vactosertib plus Merck's PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda pembrolizumab in metastatic or locally advanced colorectal, gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer. The second will test vactosertib plus AZ's PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi durvalumab in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The company expects to finish the trials within two years...