Idera Pharmaceuticals Achieves Clinical Milestone Under Its Collaboration with Merck KGaA for Cancer Treatment

Clinical Trial Initiated in First-Line Treatment of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

31-Aug-2010 - USA

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has achieved a milestone under its worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA. The milestone was achieved upon Merck KGaA’s initiation of a Phase 1b clinical trial of IMO-2055 (EMD 1201081), an agonist of Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9), in combination with cisplatin, fluorouracil and cetuximab (Erbitux®) in first-line treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Under the terms of the agreement, Idera is entitled to receive a payment of €3.0 million (approximately $3.8 million) from Merck KGaA.

“We are very pleased that Merck KGaA has initiated a clinical trial to evaluate IMO-2055 in the first-line treatment of patients with head and neck cancer,” said Tim Sullivan, Ph.D., Idera’s Vice President of Development Programs and Alliance Management. “The first-line trial is in addition to the Phase 2 clinical trial announced earlier this year to evaluate IMO-2055 in second-line treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic SCCHN.”

Idera Pharmaceuticals entered into a worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in December 2007 for the research, development and commercialization of Idera’s Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9) agonists, including IMO-2055, for the potential treatment of cancers. In addition to the clinical study announced today, under the company’s collaboration with Merck KGaA, IMO-2055 is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial in combination with Erbitux® in second-line patients with recurrent or metastatic SCCHN, in a Phase 1b clinical trial in combination with erlotinib (Tarceva®) and bevacizumab (Avastin®) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and in a Phase 1b clinical trial in combination with Erbitux® and an irinotecan-containing treatment regimen in patients with colorectal cancer.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/122183/idera-pharmaceuticals-achieves-clinical-milestone-under-its-collaboration-with-merck-kgaa-for-cancer-treatment.html