Study of Intratumoral (IT) Ulevostinag (MK-1454) in Combination With Intravenous (IV) Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) Compared to IV Pembrolizumab Alone as the First Line Treatment of Metastatic or Unresectable, Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) (MK-1454-002)

Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of intratumoral (IT) ulevostinag PLUS pembrolizumab (MK-3475) compared to pembrolizumab alone as a first line treatment of adults with metastatic or unresectable, recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The primary study hypotheses are that IT ulevostinag in combination with pembrolizumab results in a superior Objective Response Rate (ORR), per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1), compared to pembrolizumab alone: 1. In participants with a tumor that has a programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) Combined Positive Scoring (CPS) ≥ 1, and 2. In participants with a tumor that has a PD-L1 CPS ≥ 20.

Timeline

Start

2020-03-04

Primary completion

2022-09-30

Completion

2022-09-30

Publications

• Results Harrington KJ, Champiat S, Brody JD, Cho BC, Romano E, Golan T, Hyngstrom JR, Strauss J, Oh DY, Popovtzer A, Gomez-Roca C, Perets R, Kim SB, Wong DJ, Powell SF, Khilnani A, Jemielita T, Zhao Q, Zhao R, Ingham M. Phase I and II Clinical Studies of the STING Agonist Ulevostinag with and without Pembrolizumab in Participants with Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors or Lymphomas. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Aug 14;31(16):3400-3411. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-3630.
• McIntosh JA, Liu Z, Andresen BM, Marzijarani NS, Moore JC, Marshall NM, Borra-Garske M, Obligacion JV, Fier PS, Peng F, Forstater JH, Winston MS, An C, Chang W, Lim J, Huffman MA, Miller SP, Tsay FR, Altman MD, Lesburg CA, Steinhuebel D, Trotter BW, Cumming JN, Northrup A, Bu X, Mann BF, Biba M, Hiraga K, Murphy GS, Kolev JN, Makarewicz A, Pan W, Farasat I, Bade RS, Stone K, Duan D, Alvizo O, Adpressa D, Guetschow E, Hoyt E, Regalado EL, Castro S, Rivera N, Smith JP, Wang F, Crespo A, Verma D, Axnanda S, Dance ZEX, Devine PN, Tschaen D, Canada KA, Bulger PG, Sherry BD, Truppo MD, Ruck RT, Campeau LC, Bennett DJ, Humphrey GR, Campos KR, Maddess ML. A kinase-cGAS cascade to synthesize a therapeutic STING activator. Nature. 2022 Mar;603(7901):439-444. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04422-9. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

Drugs

Indications