Logos of GI Innovation and MSD

South Korean biotech company GI Innovation announced Monday a new partnership with Merck Sharp & Dohme, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., to test its drug GI-102 in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for treating patients with immunotherapy-resistant liver cancer, melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

This marks GI Innovation’s second collaboration with MSD, building on their earlier work for GI-101A. The trial will specifically target patients with resistance or nonresponse to immuno-oncology treatments, leaving them with no further treatment options.

The study will include 14 prominent hospitals across South Korea and the US, such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

In South Korea, participating institutions include Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital of Yonsei University and St. Vincent’s Hospital.

Preliminary data from a monotherapy trial of GI-102 indicated a 42.9 percent overall response rate in melanoma patients who did not respond to standard-of-care treatments, with notable complete tumor regression in preclinical liver cancer models.

"We are pleased to enter into another clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD, a world leader in immuno-oncology," GI Innovation’s Chief Scientific Officer Jang Myung-ho said. "We aim to maximize therapeutic value of GI-102 by combining it with Keytruda, MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy."