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

Genentech’s PI3K inhibitor inavolisib (Itovebi) dramatically increased progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with PIK3CA-mutated, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer, according to new research (N Engl J Med 2024 Oct 30 [Epub ahead of print]). In the phase III, double-blind INAVO120 trial, 161 patients received inavolisib plus the CDK inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance; Pfizer) and the estrogen receptor antagonist fulvestrant and 164 received a placebo with palbociclib and fulvestrant. The median PFS was 15 months in the inavolisib group and 7.3 months in the placebo group. Discontinuation due to adverse events occurred in 6.8% of the patients in the inavolisib group and 0.6% of those in the placebo group.