Merus’ Phase I/II zenocutuzumab asset to treat tumours harbouring NRG1 fusions saw its Phase Transition Success Rate (PTSR) jump five points to 28%. The update occurred on 7 June on the heels of a pooled data analysis from an ongoing trial being presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. The virtual conference took place 4–8 June.
PTSR is the probability, given as a percentage, of a drug progressing successfully from one development stage to the next. In the 250-patient Phase I/II eNRGy study among 45 patients, 34 reported tumour reduction and the overall response rate (ORR) was 29% (abstract no:TPS3145). The estimated primary completion date for the study is in September 2021, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. Zenocutuzumab acts by binding to Her2 and blocking Her3 interaction with NRG1 or NRG1-fusion proteins, thus potentially being effective against NRG1+ cancers.
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The data update also resulted in a modest one-point increase in the drug’s Likelihood of Approval (LoA) taking it to 8%. LoA is identified via GlobalData’s analysis using a combination of machine learning and a proprietary algorithm and is calculated by compounding the PTSR at each stage the drug is yet to progress through. Both LoA and PTSR can be calculated for a drug by considering characteristics like therapy area, indication and molecule type.
Merus has a market cap of $888.6m.
William Newton is a Healthcare Reporter for Clinical Trials Arena parent company GlobalData’s investigative journalism team. A version of this article originally appeared on the Insights module of GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center. To access more articles like this, visit GlobalData.
