Merck KGaA said more than half of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer are responding to its medicine tepotinib in a phase 2 study, according to data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
![]() |
Initial data from the study, known as Vision, showed clinical activity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have the MET exon 14 skipping mutations in their genes. Specifically, 15 of the 28 evaluable patients either had no detectable cancer or experienced a shrinkage in their tumor in the trial.
"These data support our plans to continue with the clinical development of tepotinib in this particularly aggressive, advanced lung cancer. Patients with this form of non-small cell lung cancer currently have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Tepotinib is an important late-stage investigational therapy and a key part of our strategic focus on innovative precision medicines," Luciano Rossetti, Merck KGaA's global head of research and development for the biopharma business, said in a statement.
The safety data in the study is consistent with that observed in previous studies, with no new safety signals identified.
The 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting is expected to bring together more than 32,000 professionals from all over the world, with more than 2,500 study abstracts to be presented on site and an additional 3,350 abstracts to be published online.

