Summit Therapeutics vs. Merck: Prepping for a big lung cancer study reveal

Let’s set the table for Sunday’s presentation of the lung cancer immunotherapy trial known as HARMONi-2. 

Last June, Summit Therapeutics created a lot of buzz — and sent its stock surging — when it announced top-line results stating its experimental drug called ivonescimab delayed tumor progression significantly more than Merck’s Keytruda in a head-to-head Phase 3 study of patients with PD-L1 positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer. 

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No drug had ever beaten Keytruda directly in a lung cancer Phase 3 study prior to Summit’s surprise disclosure, but without details, questions lingered. Sunday’s HARMONi-2 presentation at the World Conference on Lung Cancer should provide the answers. 

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