BJ Bioscience, Inc., a China-based biotech company, announced on Monday that it has signed a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with United States-based Merck & Co., Inc (MSD).

The partnership is intended to enable an assessment of the safety and efficacy of BJ-001, a tumour-targeting IL-15 fusion protein, in combination with MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in an ongoing Phase one clinical trial.

BJ Bioscience is to assess the combination of BJ-001 and KEYTRUDA as part of the company's ongoing trial in subjects with locally advanced/metastatic solid tumours. During this trial, the product is to be studied as monotherapy or in combination with KEYTRUDA, for safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, immunogenicity, and antitumor activity. BJ-001 has showcased tolerable safety profiles, favourable PK/PD profiles, and encouraging preliminary efficacy outcome in monotherapy dose escalation cohorts.