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Immune Design drug more effective when combined with Merck's Keytruda

Immune Design Corp. said its investigational treatment G100 worked better when combined with Merck & Co. Inc.'s Keytruda for the treatment of certain blood cancer patients.

According to data from a phase 2 trial presented at the American Society of Hematology 2017, a combination of G100 plus Keytruda helped reduce the tumor of 39% of in follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients. This would compare to 15% for those who only received G100.

In a subset of patients who had expressed more than 50% of the TLR4 protein, 57% experienced a reduction in their tumor, including those whose disease had returned.

G100 is a TLR4 agonist which play a key role in triggering the body's natural immune system. Keytruda, or pembrolizumab, is a monoclonal antibody designed to bind to a protein called PD-1 that is found on the surface of cancer cells.

"In light of the fact that some inhibitors of the anti-PD-1 class are viewed to have limited activity in this type of hematological malignancy, these positive data support further investigation of the potential synergy of G100 with anti-PD-1/L1 agents and the use of TLR4 expression as a potential predictive biomarker," Immune Design President and CEO Carlos Paya said in a statement.

G100 has been granted the orphan drug designation by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for the treatment of follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma.