Novartis Hits Spartalizumab Phase III Setback In Melanoma

IO MAPK Inhibitor Combination Hopes Dashed

Novartis’s attempts to enter the PD1 market by combining its investigational immunotherapy spartalizumab with its Tafinlar and Mekinist BRAF/MEK combination have come unstuck, leaving Roche to the field.    

Melanoma_Magnified
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Novartis AG’s latecomer anti-PD1 immunotherapy candidate spartalizumab has failed its first big test: a Phase III study in melanoma where used together with the company’s marketed BRAF/MEK combination, Tafinlar plus Mekinist.

Top-line data from the COMBI-i study show the triple combination did not meet its primary endpoint of investigator-assessed progression-free survival...

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