Merck and Pfizer chalk up another fail for Bavencio

Merck KGaA and Pfizer’s late entrant to the checkpoint inhibitor category has failed a phase III trial in ovarian cancer, denting their hopes of building momentum for the product. The JAVELIN Ovarian 200 study was testing Bavencio (avelumab) alone or in combination with chemotherapy (pegylated doxorubicin) in patients with resistant or refractory ovarian cancer, but who showed that the PD-L1 inhibitor wasn’t able to improve either progression-free survival or overall survival. It’s the latest major trial in a solid tumor to end in failure for Bavencio after it missed the mark in second-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in February and a third-line advanced stomach cancer treatment towards the end of last year. And while the company was quick to point out that the patient population is a challenging one to treat, a third study miss is starting to make investors nervous.