Now the Tricky Part

Now that AstraZeneca plc and Merck & Co. Inc. have concluded there is a strong mechanistic case for combining their respective MEK and Akt inhibitors for a Phase I trial, the partners must figure out how best to design a study that will demonstrate the need for combining two unapproved agents for cancer.

Spurred by recent research showing interactions between the MEK and Akt pathways, and validated by their in-house efforts, the pharmas decided to combine their respective MEK and Akt inhibitors for the study, even though each company has the necessary components of the cocktail within its own pipeline...