Merck-Kelun lung cancer drug cut tumor progression risk by 65%

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, focusing on drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He co-hosts the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and authors the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

Kelun-Biotech, a company based in China, in collaboration with Merck, has developed a targeted chemotherapy that reportedly decreases the risk of tumor progression by 65% in lung cancer patients. These findings are based on Phase 3 clinical trial results shared on Thursday.

The drug, known as sacituzumab tirumotecan or sac-TMT, showed early signs of improving patient survival rates. However, extended observation is necessary to confirm these results.

This trial, conducted in China, marks the first successful integration of an antibody-drug conjugate with a PD-1-targeted immunotherapy for patients with advanced, untreated non-small cell lung cancer.