Merck rises after co and partner Kelun's lung cancer combo meets late-stage trial goal

Summit Therapeutics

22/05/2026 15:09

Updates

** Shares of drugmaker Merck MRK.N rise 4.6% to $120.54

** Partner Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical 6990.HK late on Thursday said their experimental cancer treatment combined with Merck's Keytruda met the main goal of a late-stage study

** The combination reduced the risk of lung cancer progression or death by about 65%, the company said

     ** Merck is developing sac-TMT, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), with Chinese biotech firm Kelun-Biotech

** These findings support sac-TMT plus Keytruda as a potential new first-line treatment option for PD-L1 positive advanced lung cancer, Citi analysts say

** Shares of Summit Theraputics SMMT.O, which is also developing a lung cancer treatment called ivonescimab, fell 5.5% to $16.52

** "SMMT is indicating down post-market on these data being interpreted as a competitive headwind to ivonescimab, which doesn't make much sense to us because ivo is meant to replace pembro (Keytruda) while the role of ADCs versus chemo needs to be sorted separately" - Guggenheim

** Including session moves, MRK up 14.2% and SMMT down 6% YTD

 (Reporting by Sneha S K)

 ((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))