Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Builds on Leadership in Head and Neck Cancer Through Worldwide Licensing Agreement with Debiopharm for Pivotal-Stage Xevinapant

Worldwide, head and neck cancer accounts for more than?650,000 cases and 330,000 deaths annually, making it the 6th most common cancer type.3?LA SCCHN is a highly debilitating disease that can lead to impaired?breathing, swallowing, and speech as it progresses.4?Despite standard-of-care CRT, at least 40% to 60% of patients with LA SCCHN develop locoregional or distant relapses, which are usually detected within the first two years of treatment, underscoring the need to identify new therapeutic approaches.5 About Xevinapant
Xevinapant (Debio 1143) is a potentially first-in-class potent oral antagonist of IAPs (Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins). In preclinical studies, xevinapant restores sensitivity to apoptosis in cancer cells, thereby depriving them of one of their major resistance mechanisms. As the most clinically advanced IAP antagonist, xevinapant has established proof of efficacy in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with high-risk locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN), with a clinically significant and sustained clinical benefit compared with CRT alone. All Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany, press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the EMD Group Website. In case you are a resident of the?USA?or?Canada?please go to?www.emdgroup.com/subscribe?to register for your online subscription of this service as our geo-targeting requires new links in the email. You may later change your selection or discontinue this service. About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices ? the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany, generated sales of ? 16.2 billion in 66 countries. The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark "Merck" internationally. The only exceptions are?the United States?and?Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany?operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Performance Materials. Since its founding 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company's technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. 1?Sun XS, Tao Y,?Le Tourneau?C, et al. Debio 1143 and high-dose cisplatin chemoradiotherapy in high-risk locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: a double-blind, multicentre, randomised, phase 2 study.?Lancet Oncol?2020; 21: 1173-1187.?
2?Bourhis J, Sun XS,?Le Tourneau?C, et al. Phase II comparing concurrent high-dose cisplatin chemo-radiation plus Debio 1143 (xevinapant) or placebo in high-risk patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Abstract presented at ESMO 2020 (Virtual conference).?
3?Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries.?CA Cancer J Clin?2018; 68 (6): 394-424.
4?Johnson DE, Burtness B, Leemans CR, et al. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.?Nat Rev Dis Primers.?2020 Nov 26;6(1):92.
5?Machiels, J-P, Leemans, CR, Golusinski, W, et al. Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, larynx, oropharynx and hypopharynx: EHNS?ESMO?ESTRO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.?Ann Oncol.?2020 Nov;31(11);1462-1475. Media Relations
gangolf.schrimpf@emdgroup.com
Phone: +49 6151 72-9591
Investor Relations
investor.relations@emdgroup.com
Phone: +49 6151 72-3321 SOURCE Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,?Germany
