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Incyte, Merck skin cancer combo therapy fails study, hammers stocks

Last updated: 16:26 06 Apr 2018 BST, First published: 15:59 06 Apr 2018 BST

A healthcare  worker in a lab
The combo therapy was aimed at patients with metastatic melanoma

Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) said on Friday that its experimental drug epacadostat failed to improve the efficiency of Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda immunotherapy treatment when the two were used together by newly diagnosed cancer patients.

Incyte shares fell 21.2% to US$65.43 in morning trading, while Merck shares were nearly 1% lower.

The study was evaluating a combination of Incyte’s inhibitor Epacadostat and Merck’s Keytruda for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

The two companies said they would halt the study as an external data monitoring committee determined that Incyte's epacadostat used in concert with Merck's Keytruda didn’t really meet the primary goal of improving progression-free survival compared to patients on a Keytruda monotherapy.

Merck’s Keytruda is approved for treating several forms of cancer, including lung cancer and advanced melanoma.

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