EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the US and Canada, and Pfizer Inc. announced an update from the Phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 study evaluating avelumab in addition to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) versus standard-of-care CRT in patients with untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (LA SCCHN). The alliance has accepted the recommendation of the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) to terminate the JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial, as the study is unlikely to show a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) based on a preplanned interim analysis. A detailed analysis of the Phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 study is being conducted and study findings will be shared with the scientific community.
There has been limited innovation for patients with locally advanced SCCHN over the past 10 years.1 Despite aggressive standard-of-care treatment with high-dose chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy, LA SCCHN will ultimately recur in a large proportion of patients.2 In recognition of the unmet need for additional treatment options that can prevent recurrence or metastatic disease,3 the alliance initiated the JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial, which is the first Phase III study to report topline results for an immune checkpoint inhibitor in combination with CRT in LA SCCHN.