Merck KGaA said it does not plan to file for approval of evofosfamide in advanced soft tissue sarcoma and advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The decision was made in light of results from two Phase III studies of evofosfamide in combination with chemotherapy in these two types of cancer, as reported by Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. Merck KGaA will now be redeploying its resources into other future products, such as avelumab, an investigational anti-PD-L1 antibody being developed with Pfizer, and all other priority programs in oncology, immunooncology, and immunology.

Merck KGaA signed a global license and co-development agreement for evofosfamide with Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in February 2012, with an option for Threshold to co-commercialize the drug in the US. Evofosfamide is an investigational hypoxia-activated prodrug of a bisalkylating agent that is preferentially activated under severe tumor hypoxic conditions, a feature of many solid tumors.

Source: Merck KGaA