Benzinga | Mar 18, 2021 08:02AM EDT

Exelixis Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration And Supply Agreement With Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany And Pfizer To Evaluate XL092 And Avelumab In Various Forms Of Locally Advanced Or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma; Financial Details Not Disclosed

New expansion cohorts to be added to ongoing STELLAR-001 trial following dose-escalation phase --

Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) today announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer for the ongoing phase 1b dose escalation study STELLAR-001 (previously called "XL092-001"), adding three new cohorts that will evaluate the safety and tolerability of XL092, Exelixis' novel next generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), in combination with avelumab (BAVENCIO(r)), an anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC). Avelumab is being co-developed and co-commercialized by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer. Exelixis is sponsoring the STELLAR-001 clinical trial, and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer will provide avelumab for use in the trial.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer to study the potential of XL092 in combination with avelumab as part of the broad development program evaluating our novel next generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor across a wide variety of cancers," said Gisela Schwab, M.D., President, Product Development and Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, Exelixis. "Although several therapies are now available to treat bladder cancers, the prognosis for patients with advanced disease remains poor and more options are needed. Evaluating how XL092 may positively impact care when paired with immunotherapy is central to our goal of improving therapeutic outcomes for patients with this and other difficult-to-treat cancers."

Based on the dose-escalation results, the trial has the potential to enroll up to three expansion cohorts evaluating XL092 in combination with avelumab in metastatic UC, including as maintenance therapy, in patients who have progressed following treatment with an ICI, and in patients previously treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

XL092 is an investigational, next-generation oral TKI that targets VEGF receptors, MET, AXL, MER and other kinases implicated in the growth and spread of cancer. Preclinical findings presented at the 32nd EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium in October 2020 showed that XL092 in combination with an ICI was more efficacious than either XL092 or anti-PD1 alone. Single-agent avelumab is the only ICI approved in the U.S. for maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC that has not progressed with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

More information about this trial is available at ClinicalTrials.gov.