Merck and Daiichi team up again

Only seven months after buying the bispecific specialist Harpoon for $680m Merck & Co is licensing out the lead asset from the deal, the DLL3-targeting MK-6070. However, this doesn’t seem as sinister as it might first appear: the deal is with Merck’s existing partner Daiichi Sankyo, and the key to the latest tie-up could be ifinatamab deruxtecan, the B7-H3-targeting ADC the companies are jointly developing. Both MK-6070 and ifinatamab deruxtecan are being tested in small-cell lung cancer, and the companies noted today that they would study the assets together in certain SCLC patients, as well as looking at “other potential combinations”. This could provide a clue about MK-6070’s pivotal trial, details of which still haven’t emerged; before the deal, Harpoon promised to start this in 2024. Daiichi is paying Merck $170m up front and the partners will share costs and profits worldwide, except in Japan where Merck will retain rights. DLL3 has seen a resurgence since Amgen’s T-cell engager Imdelltra posted promising results at ESMO last year, and the pipeline has swelled since ApexOnco last carried out this analysis. MK-6070 still looks like one the leading contenders behind Imdelltra, if pivotal development does indeed start soon. Oncology assets targeting DLL3ProjectCompanyModalityNoteImdelltraAmgenAnti-DLL3 T-cell engagerAA for 2nd-line SCLC May 2024MK-6070Daiichi/ Merck & Co (via Harpoon)Anti-DLL3 T-cell engagerMerck & Daiichi sign collaboration Aug 2024; ph1/2 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursBI 764532Boehringer IngelheimAnti-DLL3 T-cell engagerPh2 Dareon-5 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursPT217Phanes TherapeuticsDLL3 x CD47 bispecific MAbPh2 Skybridge in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursZG006Suzhou ZelgenAnti-DLL3 T-cell engagerChina ph1/2 trials in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursRO7616789Roche/ChugaiAnti-DLL3 T-cell engagerPh1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursLB2102Novartis/LegendDLL3 Car-TPh1 in SCLCZL-1310Zai LabAnti-DLL3 ADCPh1 in SCLCBHP01Chengdu Brilliantα-PD-L1/DLL3 Car-TChina ph1 in SCLCBL-M14D1Baili (SystImmune)Anti-DLL3 ADCChina ph1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursFZ-AD005Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-PharmaceuticalAnti-DLL3 ADCChina ph1 in solid tumoursQLS31904Qilu PharmaceuticalAnti-DLL3 T-cell engagerChina ph1 in solid tumoursSNC115Simnova BiotechnologyDLL3 Car-NK cellsChina ph1 in SCLC & neuroendocrine tumoursSource: OncologyPipeline.