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

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/ivonescimab-beats-keytruda-in-harmoni-2-nearly-doubling-progression-7d56fc52
Date: 8 Sep 2024
About: [Summit Therapeutics](https://technooptimist.io/companies/summit-therapeutics.md) · [Ivonescimab](https://technooptimist.io/biotech/ivonescimab.md)
Original source: https://ascopost.com/issues/november-25-2024-supplement-conference-highlights-2024-wclc/harmoni-2-ivonescimab-outperforms-pembrolizumab-as-first-line-treatment-in-nsclc/

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.

## Key facts

- 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.

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