Ivonescimab Edges Out Keytruda in Landmark NSCLC Trial

Akeso and Summit Therapeutics' partnership has delivered more positive results in the Phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial. The companies' PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, ivonescimab, bested Merck's Keytruda on both overall survival and progression-free survival in a type of non-small cell lung cancer.

The trial compared ivonescimab against Keytruda in patients with first-line NSCLC with tumors that express PD-L1. The drug has already been approved in China for this type of cancer, as well as two others.

According to Jefferies, 'Akeso's HARMONi-2 study has now demonstrated both PFS and OS superiority versus Keytruda in China, raising the possibility that future NSCLC regimens may increasingly be judged against ivonescimab rather than Keytruda.'