PharmAbcine Inc., a clinical-stage biotech company headquartered in South Korea has entered into a collaborative agreement with MSD (Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA), through a subsidiary, to evaluate PharmAbcine’s anti-VEGFR2 mAb, TTAC-0001, in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 (programmed death receptor-1) therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (rGBM) and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

PharmAbcine is invovled in developing novel antibody therapeutics for multiple cancer indications. The company's lead candidate TTAC-0001, an investigational therapy, is a highly selective and potent anti-VEGFR2 (KDR/flk-1) mAb in clinical development for rGBM indications. 

As per the collaboration, PharmAbcine will conduct international Phase I/II studies to evaluate the potential clinical synergy of combining TTAC-0001 with KEYTRUDA.

Increased understanding of the role of VEGF/VEGFR2 in the tumor microenvironment (TME) supports the rationale for evaluating TTAC-0001 in combination with KEYTRUDA.