VERTEX, MERCK INITIATE STUDY IN HEMATOLOGIC CANCERS WITH VX-680

Merck & Co. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals have initiated an additional Phase I clinical study with VX-680, a small molecule inhibitor of Aurora kinases.

The two-part, open-label, dose-escalation study is designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of VX-680 when administered over a five-day treatment cycle in patients with hematologic cancers. The study will evaluate VX-680 in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome, acute lymphocytic leukemia or chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis.

With the start of this clinical study, Merck and Vertex now have three clinical studies underway with VX-680 in cancer. The initiation of this clinical study is supported by VX-680's activity against hematologic cancers in both in vitro and in vivo studies. VX-680 is a potent inhibitor of Aurora kinases and of Flt-3 kinase, which have been implicated in the onset and progression of human leukemias. VX-680 has demonstrated prolonged survival and induced sustained remission in a model of human AML, and has also shown profound effects in a number of other preclinical cancer models.