Merck presents MK-1454 Phase 1 data for treatment of advanced solid tumors or lymphomas

Oct 22 2018

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the first presentation of preliminary data from a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating MK-1454, an investigational STING (stimulator of interferon genes) agonist, as monotherapy and in combination with KEYTRUDA^® (pembrolizumab), Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphomas. MK-1454 is one of more than 20 novel investigational immuno-therapeutic candidates Merck is evaluating as part of its broad oncology pipeline. The findings for MK-1454 were accepted as a late-breaking abstract and are being presented today in a poster discussion session at the ESMO 2018 Congress (Abstract #LBA15).

"Merck is advancing a broad pipeline focused on the development of novel therapies with potential to provide meaningful clinical benefit to people with advanced cancers," said Dr. Eric H. Rubin, senior vice president, early-stage development, clinical oncology, Merck Research Laboratories. "We are encouraged by these early findings with our STING agonist, most notably the observations of several robust anti-tumor responses in patients receiving MK-1454 in combination with KEYTRUDA. Further studies are ongoing."