Merck & Co (MSD) and Adcendo have entered a collaboration and supply agreement to evaluate ADCE-T02 with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in a Phase Ib trial for advanced solid tumour patients.
Adcendo’s ADCE-T02 is an investigational antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that targets tissue factor and is based on a topoisomerase-1 inhibitor. Keytruda is MSD’s anti- programmed cell death receptor-1 (PD-1) therapy.
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Adcendo will sponsor the Phase Ib clinical trial, and MSD will provide pembrolizumab. Both companies will hold all commercial rights to their respective compounds, whether used as monotherapies or in combination regimens.
Adcendo chief medical officer Dr Lone Ottesen said: “We are excited to work together with MSD on this new clinical trial combining ADCE-T02, our novel tissue factor-targeting ADC, with pembrolizumab.
“Through this collaboration of potentially complementary mechanisms, we may be able to positively impact clinical outcomes for patients battling cancers where tissue factor is known to be overexpressed such as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer and cervical cancer.”
Adcendo expects to dose the first patient in the Phase Ib study in the second half of 2026.
The trial will investigate the tolerability, safety and preliminary efficacy of escalating ADCE-T02 doses alongside the standard dose of pembrolizumab in advanced solid tumour patients.
ADCE-T02 is also currently under evaluation as a monotherapy in the Phase I Tiffany-01 study, which also targets patients with advanced solid tumours.
The integration of the tissue factor-targeting ADC with anti-PD-1 therapy is expected to improve the combination’s anti-tumour activity, due to the complementary characteristics of both mechanisms.
Adcendo’s lead programmes include ADCE-T02, ADCE-D01 targeting uPARAP, and ADCE-B05 in clinical evaluation for squamous cell solid tumours.
Earlier this month, MSD and Erasca entered a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement to assess ERAS-0015 in combination with Keytruda in patients with rat sarcoma virus (RAS)-mutant solid tumours.
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