Merck posts—then pulls—trial plan for PD-1xVEGF and TROP2 ADC combination

Biotech Merck posts—then pulls—trial plan for PD-1xVEGF and TROP2 ADC combination By Angus Liu Jul 29, 2026 3:00pm Merck & Co. bispecific antibodies antibody-drug conjugates drug combination After keeping tight-lipped for nearly two years, Merck & Co. briefly dropped the first concrete hint as to where it intends to take its PD-1xVEGF bispecific antibody—before quietly scrubbing the evidence.

A brief, now-deleted clinical trial listing on Merck’s website revealed that the New Jersey pharma plans to test the bispecific, coded MK-2010, alongside its TROP2-directed antibody-drug conjugate, sac-TMT. The phase 2 trial, coded MK-2010-003, was marked as “Study in start-up” on Merck’s website with St. Gallen and Bellinzona in Switzerland listed as study centers.

The open-label study would test the combo in patients with advanced solid tumors. Following a request for comment from Fierce Biotech on Wednesday morning, Merck has apparently removed the entry and deleted other listings for MK-2010, including a separate phase 2 monotherapy trial. The company didn’t reply to Fierce’s inquiry by publication time.

China-based life sciences data aggregator PharmCube was among the first to report on the trial entry. The secrecy underscores a highly competitive race within the PD-(L)1xVEGF bispecific class, which also includes Summit Therapeutics and Akeso’s frontrunner ivonescimab, Bristol Myers Squibb and BioNTech’s pumitamig, and Pfizer and 3SBio’s PF-08634404 (SSGJ-707). Merck has kept its PD-1xVEGF strategy close to its chest since acquiring the asset from China’s LaNova Medicines (now part of Sino Biopharmaceutical) in 2024, citing a fiercely competitive environment.

As bispecifics threaten to unseat Keytruda as the new immuno-oncology backbone, industry watchers and rivals alike have been closely tracking every move by the Keytruda maker while trying to decipher every comment the company makes. Related AACR: Merck unveils PD-1xVEGF bispecific data in NSCLC, remains tight-lipped on phase 3 plans During an investor event on the sidelines of the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in June, Merck’s head of oncology global clinical development, Marjorie Green, M.D., pointed to the company’s experience combining Keytruda with VEGF inhibitors. She touted a “portfolio of novel agents that offer combination opportunities oriented towards combinations of the future rather than adding on to today’s current standard, including ADCs like sac-TMT.” Hints of Merck’s development plan for MK-2010 dropped as questions also begin to swirl around potential competition—rather than synergy—between PD-1xVEGF drugs and TROP2 ADCs in the lucrative non-small cell lung cancer indication.

As Akeso has reported ivonescimab head-to-head wins against PD-1 inhibitors in first-line NSCLC, Merck’s partner, Kelun-Biotech, has also delivered strong phase 3 results for sac-TMT in the same setting. Standing only on the verge of phase 2, Merck’s measured approach to MK-2010 reflects a cautious stance that contrasts sharply with the expansive phase 3 programs underway at BioNTech/BMS and Pfizer, as well as Merck’s own 17-trial roster for sac-TMT. For pumitamig, BioNTech and BMS have laid out the first wave of nine global pivotal trials across multiple tumor types, with lung cancer and breast cancer leading the way.

In potential combinations of PD-1xVEGF and TROP2 ADC, specifically, Merck also appears to be behind. China’s Minghui Pharmaceutical is already about a year into phase 2 development, pairing its PD-1xVEGF candidate MHB039A with a TROP2 ADC coded MHB036C for advanced breast cancer and other solid tumors. Related ASCO: In next-gen IO race, BioNTech/BMS and Pfizer are divided on overall survival approach Despite what appears to be a conservative approach so far, Leerink Partners analyst Daina Graybosch, Ph.D., has argued that Merck could rapidly pivot to more aggressive development of MK-2010 if it so chooses.

“We believe Merck’s ‘wait-and-then-move’ strategy for MK-2010 will prove successful, as they have a strong portfolio to leapfrog the competition via ADC combinations,” Graybosch and colleagues wrote in an April note after Merck unveiled the first clinical data for MK-2010 in NSCLC at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting. “Should Merck proceed with MK-2010 more aggressively, we believe they are likely to leverage their vast ADC program (including […] sac-TMT) to combine with MK-2010,” the team said at the time. Meanwhile, the oncology field is eagerly waiting for phase 3 readouts from AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Avanzar trial for a cocktail of their TROP2 ADC, Datroway, with AZ’s PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi and chemotherapy in first-line NSCLC.

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