RE:RE:RE:Merck ditches oncolytic virus Cavatak Repost from October:
Along with Cavatak being an oncolytic virus that is injected intratumorally (IT) rather than intravenously (IV) like ONCY's pelareorep, clinical trials with Cavatak + Merck's pembrolizumab (Keytruda) didn't sequence the administration of the OV then the ICI and instead were both were administered together.
In contrast ONCY's pelareorep is administered through an IV infusion in advance of the administration of an immune checkpoint inhibitor like pembrolizumab, or atezolizumab or avelumab or others.
The combination of Merck's Keytruda + Amgen's T-Vec also failed to show efficacy because the oncolytic virus T-Vec was injected intratumorally (IT) and also because both T-Vec and Keytruda were also administered simultaneously rather than sequenctially.
ONCY's pelareorep "primes" the immune system and remodels the TME to make the tumor microenvironment more receptive to checkpoint blockade which happens with the sequencing in an immune checkpoint inhibitor seeral days after pelareorep is first infused.
Furthermore Merck has replaced its CEO on October26, 2022 who has "cleaned the deck" of poorly designed clinical trials like those that were carried out for Cavatak + Keytruda.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/mercks-ceo-succeed-ken-frazier-chairman-2022-10-26/
Could it be that Meck has ditched intratumorally injected Cavatak and may be looking at ONCY's intravenously administered Immune Molecule Platform Technology pelareorep given the newly opened Phase 1/2 AMBUSH trial involving pelareorep in combinbination with Merck's (MSD) immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in Multiple Myeloma (MM) started in August 2022 - and could be looking at ONCY as an M&A acquisition target ?
Biotechs are usually bought out by big pharmaceutical companies who have the financial muscle to fund large phase 3 clinical trials and commercialise successful treatments. The conditions appear ripe for an M&A boom: big drugmakers are sitting on almost $300 Billion of cash with S1.25 Trillion in firepower, and many, including Merck and Bristol-Myers-Squibb, need to refill their pipelines because of major patent expiries in the second half of the decade.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05514990