NEW YORK – Prelude Therapeutics on Tuesday said it is collaborating with Merck on a clinical trial evaluating its SMARCA2 degrader PRT3789 in combination with Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with SMARCA4-mutated cancers.
Prelude, based in Wilmington, Delaware, will evaluate the PRT3789-Keytruda combination in a Phase II trial. Earlier this year, the company presented preclinical data supporting the potential of the combination therapy, in which it demonstrated enhanced anti-tumor immunity and tumor regressions in SMARCA4-mutated cancers.
"Through this collaboration of potentially complementary mechanisms, we may have the potential to positively impact clinical outcomes in patients harboring a SMARCA4 mutation, who have previously been known to have limited treatment options," Prelude Chief Medical Officer Jane Huang said in a statement.
The firm is already studying PRT3789 monotherapy and in combination with docetaxel in a Phase I study in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors with loss of SMARCA4 due to truncating mutation and/or deletion. Prelude expects to conclude the monotherapy dose-escalation portion of the Phase I trial by mid-2024 and identify recommended Phase II dose.
Prelude is also developing a CDK9 inhibitor, PRT2527, that it is studying in solid tumors with MYC dysregulation and in certain leukemias and lymphomas.