Merck KGaA announces results of Stimuvax trial

Merck KGaA has published data on three-year survival rates for a phase II trial for the Stimuvax MUUC-1 vaccine in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Unveiling the results at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Congress in Seoul, Merck KGaA asserted that when combined with best supported care, Stimuvax can provide survival benefits to patients with the disease at unresectable stage IIIB, provided that they had responded or had stabilised following initial radio chemotherapy.

Survival results from the trial demonstrated that twice as many patients were still alive at three years when their treatment involved Stimuvax than when they received best supportive care alone.

Dr Wolfgang Wein, senior executive vice-president of oncology at the firm, remarks: “Our Stimuvax development programme forms part of our commitment to developing innovative targeted therapies to advance treatment options for patients with cancer.”

The phase III Stimuvax trial commenced at the end of February and involves more than 1,300 patients resident in around 30 countries.