Ivonescimab beats Keytruda in HARMONi-2, nearly doubling progression-free survival in lung cancer

Summit Therapeutics/Ivonescimab

Akeso's phase 3 HARMONi-2 trial in China compared ivonescimab head-to-head with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) as first treatment for PD-L1-positive advanced lung cancer. Patients on ivonescimab went 11.1 months before their cancer grew, versus 5.8 months on Keytruda. It was the first phase 3 trial in which any drug beat Keytruda alone in this setting, and it made ivonescimab the most watched bispecific in oncology.

• 398 patients at 55 centres in China, randomised to ivonescimab 20 mg/kg or pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks.
• Median progression-free survival 11.14 vs 5.8 months; hazard ratio 0.51 (49% lower risk of progression or death).
• At 9 months, 56% vs 40% of patients were progression-free.
• Presented at the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer, 8 Sep 2024.