Substudy 03C is part of a larger research study that is testing experimental treatments for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The larger study is the umbrella study (U03). The goal of substudy 03C is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of experimental combinations of investigational agents in participants with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) who have recurrent disease during or after anti-programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-\[L\]1) adjuvant therapy. This substudy will have two phases: a safety lead-in phase and an efficacy phase. The safety lead-in phase will be used to demonstrate a tolerable safety profile for the combination of investigational agents. There will be no hypothesis testing in this study
Phase 1 trials primarily test safety and dosing in a small number of participants (typically 20–100). Results do not yet speak to efficacy. FDA approval is typically many years away from this stage.
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.