The main goals are after treatment given before surgery, to measure the number of people who have no signs of cancer cells in tumors and lymph nodes removed during surgery; and to learn about whether the cancer gets smaller or goes away by measuring the number of people with a certain number of living cancer cells in the tumor removed during surgery.
Phase 2 trials begin testing efficacy in a larger patient group (100–300). This is often where biotech binary events occur — positive Phase 2 data can significantly advance a company's pipeline narrative, while failures can be terminal for a program.
Currently recruiting: the trial is enrolling patients. A data readout is not expected until after enrollment closes and the follow-up period is complete.
Merck & Co (MRK) is the sponsoring company for this trial. BiotechSign currently grades this company F (35/100) based on composite catalyst signals across its full pipeline. This trial is one data point in that overall catalyst picture.