Merck, Portage Biotech collaborate to evaluate Portage's next-generation adenosine antagonists in combination with Keytruda in solid tumors
The collaboration will explore Portage’s adenosine 2A receptor (A2AR) antagonist, PORT-6, its adenosine 2B receptor (A2BR) antagonist, PORT-7, individually and together in combination with KEYTRUDA in prostate, renal, head and neck, colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and non-small cell lung cancers.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will provide KEYTRUDA for Portage Biotech’s ADPORT-601, an adaptive Phase 1a/1b trial which plans to integrate proprietary biomarkers for selecting patients with high adenosine expression in order to identify those more likely to respond and have potential to benefit most from treatment.
“We are excited to initiate another collaboration with longstanding immunotherapy leader, Merck, to further explore the potential benefits of combining checkpoint blockade with PORT-6 and PORT-7,” said Dr. Ian Walters, Chief Executive Officer of Portage Biotech. “Our suite of potentially best-in-class adenosine antagonists are designed to act on multiple immune cell types for potentially more robust immunological effect and have been demonstrated preclinically to be more selective, more potent and more durable than other adenosine antagonists in development. We look forward to expanding this collaboration, evaluating our adenosine antagonists and continuing our mission to offer transformational therapies for patients in need.”
KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co. LLC., Rahway, N.J., USA.
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