Three patients reportedly died in a Merus clinical trial of a new lung cancer treatment.
Merus is studying MCLA-129 in 60 patients across three expansion cohorts in an open-label phase 1/2 study. The antibody therapy targets EGFR and c-MET, which are believed to be dysregulated in many tumors, such as non-small cell lung cancer.
Out of the 60 patients in the lung cancer group, 16 were treated in the first-line setting and saw their tumors shrink, and 44 were treated in the second-line setting, with 11 having confirmed partial results, according to the results presented Dec. 2 at the European Society for Medical Oncology's Asia Congress 2023.
However, three patients experienced treatment-related interstitial lung disease and died.
All patients experienced some sort of side effect deemed "treatment-related," including infusion reactions and nausea. Twenty-three patients experienced at least one grade 3 or higher adverse event, such as interstitial lung disease, low blood pressure and blood clots.
Becker's has reached out to Merus for comment and will update this article if more information becomes available.