A Clinical Study of V940 and Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) in People With Melanoma (V940-012/INTerpath-012)

Study Purpose

Researchers want to learn if V940 with pembrolizumab can stop advanced melanoma from growing or spreading. Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. Advanced means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and cannot be removed with surgery. A standard (or usual) treatment for advanced melanoma is immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. V940 is a study treatment designed to help a person's immune system attack their specific cancer. Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy. The goal of this study is to learn if people who receive V940 with pembrolizumab live longer without the cancer growing or spreading than people who receive placebo with pembrolizumab. A placebo looks like the study treatment but has no study treatment in it. Using a placebo helps researchers better understand the effects of a study treatment.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms

No
Study Type

An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes.


An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.


Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.

Interventional
Eligible Ages 18 Years and Over
Gender All
More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

The main inclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:
  • - Has unresectable and histologically confirmed Stage III or IV cutaneous melanoma per American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Eighth Edition guidelines.
  • - Has been untreated for melanoma except if participant received prior adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy with targeted therapy or immunotherapy (such as anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein [CTLA-4], anti-programmed cell death 1 protein [PD-1] therapy or interferon), and only if relapse did not occur within 12 months after treatment discontinuation.
  • - Have documentation of serine/threonine-protein kinase B-raf (BRAF) V600-activating mutation status or had BRAF V600 mutation testing per local institutional standards during the screening period (participants with BRAF mutation positive melanoma as well as BRAF wild-type or unknown are eligible).
  • - Have the presence of at least 1 measurable lesion by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) per Response Criteria in Solid Tumors Version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) as determined by the local site investigator/radiology assessment.
  • - Provides tumor tissue (preferably from a metastatic site and, if not available, from the primary tumor) that is suitable for next generation sequencing and biomarker analysis as required for this study.
  • - Participants with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) must have well controlled HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
  • - Participants who are hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive are eligible if they have received hepatitis B virus (HBV) antiviral therapy for at least 4 weeks, and have undetectable HBV viral load prior to randomization.
  • - Participants with history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable at screening.

Exclusion Criteria:

The main exclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:
  • - Has clinically significant heart failure, defined as New York Heart Association class III or IV, within the past 6 months, unless the disease is well controlled in the opinion of the investigator.
  • - HIV-infected participants with a history of Kaposi's sarcoma and/or Multicentric Castleman's Disease.
  • - Has ocular or mucosal melanoma.
  • - Received transfusion of blood products (including platelets or red blood cells) or administration of colony-stimulating factors (including granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or recombinant erythropoietin) within 2 weeks of the Screening blood sample (including the blood sample for V940 generation).
  • - Received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-PD-L2 agent, or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or coinhibitory T-cell receptor (eg, CTLA-4, lymphocyte activation gene 3 [LAG-3], tumor necrosis factor receptors [OX-40 or CD137]), with some exceptions.
  • - Received prior systemic anticancer therapy for melanoma before randomization, with some exceptions.
  • - Received prior radiotherapy within 2 weeks of start of study intervention or has ongoing radiation related toxicities.
  • - Received a live or live-attenuated vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study intervention.
  • - Received prior treatment with another universal or personalized cancer vaccine.

Trial Details

Trial ID:

This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.

NCT06961006
Phase

Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans.

Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data.

Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs.

Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.

Phase 2
Lead Sponsor

The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Principal Investigator

The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.

Medical Director
Principal Investigator Affiliation Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Agency Class

Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.

Industry
Overall Status Not yet recruiting
Countries
Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.

Malignant Melanoma
Study Website: View Trial Website
Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: V940 + Pembrolizumab

Participants will receive 1 mg of V940 via intramuscular (IM) injection every 3 weeks (q3w) for up to 9 doses (up to approximately 27 weeks) plus 400 mg of pembrolizumab via intravenous (IV) infusion every 6 weeks (q6w) for up to 17 doses, or for a total treatment duration of up to approximately 2 years, or until disease progression or discontinuation.

Active Comparator: Placebo + Pembrolizumab

Participants will receive placebo via IM injection q3w for up to 9 doses (up to approximately 27 weeks) plus 400 mg of pembrolizumab via IV infusion q6w for up to 17 doses, or for a total treatment duration of up to approximately 2 years, or until disease progression or discontinuation.

Interventions

Biological: - V940

IM injection

Biological: - Pembrolizumab

IV infusion

Other: - Placebo

IM injection

Contact Information

This trial has no sites locations listed at this time. If you are interested in learning more, you can contact the trial's primary contact:

For additional contact information, you can also visit the trial on clinicaltrials.gov.

Stay Informed & Connected