LAVA Therapeutics N.V. announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA to evaluate its anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in combination with LAVA-1207, a Gammabody® designed to target the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) to trigger the potent and preferential killing of PSMA-positive tumor cells, in patients with therapy refractory metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Under the terms of the agreement, Merck & Co., Inc.,Rahway, NJ, USA will provide pembrolizumab for the dose escalation and expansion phases of LAVA's ongoing Phase 1/2a study of LAVA-1207 (NCT05369000), with the combination arm expected to be initiated in the first half of 2024.

Enrollment and dose escalation will also continue in the LAVA-1207 monotherapy and interleukin-2 arms of the study.