In November 2014, Merck and Pfizer announced a strategic alliance to co-develop and co-commercialize avelumab. By retaining a native Fc-region, avelumab is thought to engage the innate immune system and induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). By inhibiting PD-L1 interactions, avelumab is thought to potentially enable the activation of T cells and the adaptive immune system. All investigational products have not yet been proven to be either safe or effective and any claims of safety and effectiveness can be made only after regulatory review of the data and approval of the labeled claims.Īvelumab (also known as MSB0010718C) is an investigational fully human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 monoclonal antibody. *Avelumab is the proposed International Nonproprietary Name (INN) for the anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (MSB0010718C).Īvelumab is currently under clinical investigation and has not been approved for use in the U.S., E.U., Canada, or elsewhere. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The investigational CDx is part of the protocols in ongoing clinical trials of avelumab, some of which will be reported at upcoming scientific congresses. The three-party agreement, signed recently, enables Dako, Merck and Pfizer to work to develop the CDx to assess programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein expression levels in tumor tissue, and its microenvironment, including tumor-associated immune cells. Merck and Pfizer collaborate with Dako in developing an immunohistochemistry (IHC)-based companion diagnostic (CDx) in immuno-oncologyĭarmstadt, Germany & New York - ( Business Wire) - As part of the global strategic alliance between Merck and Pfizer to jointly develop and commercialize avelumab*, an investigational immune checkpoint inhibitor, the companies have announced today that they have a collaboration agreement in place with Dako, an Agilent Technologies company, for the development of a potential companion diagnostic test (CDx).

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