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Lava nasdaq Lvtx Stock Surges on Merck Collaboration News

LAVA (NASDAQ: LVTX) Stock Surges on Merck Collaboration News

LAVA Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LVTX) shares soared almost 43% on Thursday after announcing a collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. The partnership involves evaluating the combination of LAVA-1207 with KEYTRUDA®.

LAVA Therapeutics (LVTX) has announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. in Rahway, NJ, USA. The collaboration aims to evaluate the combination of LAVA-1207, a Gammabody®, designed to target the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab).

The study will focus on patients with therapy refractory metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The combined therapy aims to trigger potent and preferential killing of PSMA-positive tumor cells in the specified patient population.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck & Co., Rahway, NJ, USA, will supply pembrolizumab for the dose escalation and expansion phases of LAVA’s ongoing Phase 1/2a study of LAVA-1207 (NCT05369000). The combination arm is anticipated to commence in the first half of 2024.

Moreover, the agreement includes the continuation of enrollment and dose escalation in the LAVA-1207 monotherapy and interleukin-2 arms of the study.

KEYTRUDA® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co. LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA.

LAVA Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LVTX) Stock Price Action

LVTX stock jumped 42.95% on Thursday. The traders had exchanged hands with 43,154,973 (43.15 million) shares compared to the average daily trading volume of 36.64K.