CLAIM #43565 · Merck & Company Inc (MRK) · 2025Q2 earnings call · Jul 29, 2025

“In relationship to the LaNova program itself, everything is going exactly as planned.”

Dean Li · President of Research Labs

How to check this claim

Look at: Initiation of a registration-enabling Phase II study (e.g., KEYNOTE-21G-like trial) for the LaNova PD-1/VEGF program

It came true if: Company confirms Phase II registrational trial start within stated timeframe (next few months from 2025-07-29)

Where: Company press releases, clinicaltrials.gov listing, or management commentary on subsequent earnings calls

Knowable after: 2026-01-29

In context

“antage, which we thought was critical for Merck to enter the field. Operator: Our next question comes from Umer Raffat with Evercore. Umer Raffat: I feel like there's been a ton of interest in the valuation paid for your Chinese partner, LaNova, on the PD-1/VEGF. And my question is, considering the ongoing Phase I is an open-label study, can we reasonably assume everything is, in fact, on track and you are still in a position to start a potentially registration Phase II like a KEYNOTE-21G in the next few months? Dean Y. Li: Yes. So this is Dean. In relationship to PD-1/VEGF, you're exactly right. We've been interested in the dual signaling in this space for some time. I mean I would actually mark 2018 as our interest in relationship to our broad collaboration with our collaborator, Eisai. In relationship to the LaNova program itself, everything is going exactly as planned. Now clearly, we're keeping an eye on the external environment and external data. But as related to LaNova program moving forward, that is going exactly as planned as we -- according to the plan when we initiated the partnership with LaNova. Operator: Our next question comes from Akash Tewari with Jefferies. Akash Tewari: So we're seeing an increase in patient adds for WINREVAIR after some modest decreases over the last 2 quarters. What's the right cadence when you think about this going forward, not only for the rest of 2025, but really 2026 and onwards now that you have the HYPERION and ZENITH results? And really, what's your progress in terms of progressing WINREVAIR into earlier lines of setting? Are you starting to see doctors adopt this medication more aggressively? And then maybe if”

Verify independently

SEC filings for MRK ↗ · Quote is verbatim from the 2025Q2 earnings call.