4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, pioneering the development of Live Biotherapeutic Products, today announced an agreement with a subsidiary of MSD (tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA) to conduct a clinical trial evaluating the combination of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), an anti-PD-1 therapy marketed by MSD, and 4D’s live biotherapeutic candidate MRx0518 in patients with solid tumours.
MRx0518, 4D’s lead oncology programme, has shown therapeutic potential in a variety of tumour types in pre-clinical models and has the potential for synergy in combination with checkpoint inhibitor therapies. The phase I study will evaluate safety, tolerability and preliminary clinical benefit of the combination of KEYTRUDA with MRx0518 in patients who progressed on prior PD-1 inhibitor therapy with renal, bladder, melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
Duncan Peyton, founder and Chief Executive Officer of 4D, commented: “At 4D we believe there is strong scientific rationale for evaluating our lead oncology programme MRx0518, in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor. We are excited to work with MSD and look forward to collaborating on this project.”
