Benzinga | Sep 29, 2020 05:33AM EDT

Celyad Oncology Announced Clinical Trial Collaboration to Evaluate CYAD-101 with Merck's KEYTRUDA in Patients with Microsatellite Stable mCRC

Celyad Oncology SA (NASDAQ:CYAD) announced today that the Company has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Merck (NYSE:MRK), through a subsidiary.

Celyad Oncology will conduct the Phase 1b KEYNOTE-B79 clinical trial, which will evaluate Celyad Oncology's investigational non-gene edited allogeneic CAR T candidate, CYAD-101, following FOLFIRI (combination of 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan) preconditioning chemotherapy, with MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) / mismatch-repair proficient (pMMR) disease.

"We are extremely pleased to enter into this clinical collaboration with MSD, as we believe the mechanism of actions of CYAD-101 and KEYTRUDA are highly complementary and could help to drive meaningful clinical benefit in patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer, in particular with microsatellite stable disease where a high unmet medical need exists," said Filippo Petti, Chief Executive Officer of Celyad Oncology. "In addition, the collaboration with MSD adds an important dimension to our clinical program for CYAD-101 for the treatment of mCRC and provides us with the opportunity to build upon the encouraging clinical activity we've reported to date from the ongoing alloSHRINK trial."

KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA.