GSK announced that its antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) belantamab mafodotin (Blenrep) led to significantly better survival outcomes in patients with multiple myeloma than daratumumab (Darzalex; Johnson & Johnson) in the phase III DREAMM-7 study, nearly 2 years after the drug was pulled from the market for failing to show superiority over a standard treatment in an earlier phase III trial. In DREAMM-7, both drugs were administered in combination with bortezomib plus dexamethasone and as a second-line or later treatment. This follows encouraging results released in June that showed patients receiving GSK’s drug had a 60% greater reduction in risk of death or disease progression compared with those taking daratumumab. Data from the trial will be presented at next month’s American Society of Hematology annual meeting.

Today, Merck announced that it will acquire LaNova Medicines’ PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, LM-299, for $588 million upfront plus financial awards that could reach $2.7 billion if certain development and commercialization milestones are reached. Merck will receive the exclusive right to develop, manufacture, and commercialize LM-299, which demonstrated strong inhibition of tumor growth in humanized mice in preclinical studies. A phase I trial for LM-299 is currently enrolling patients in China, and a U.S.-based phase I trial is expected to launch soon.

The antibody fusion protein IBI363, which combines IL2 and an anti–PD-1 antibody, showed strong efficacy in immunotherapy-naive patients with advanced melanoma, including in immunologically “cold” subtypes typically unresponsive to immunotherapy. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) faces a $6.7 billion lawsuit alleging that the company purposely delayed a pproval of Celgene-developed drugs to avoid paying Celgene shareholders owning contingent value rights (CVR), according to Reuters. An earlier suit, brought for