Roche Halts Trial Amid Latest Setback for Lung Cancer Therapy

Roche is terminating its lung cancer trial SKYSCRAPER-06 due to its new immunotherapy, tiragolumab, not showing significant benefits over Merck's Keytruda. This follows a series of setbacks for the Swiss company's drug candidate.

Roche is ending its lung cancer trial SKYSCRAPER-06 after the new immunotherapy drug, tiragolumab, failed to outperform established treatment Keytruda by Merck & Co.

The decision casts further doubt on the drug candidate's efficacy. Roche revealed on Thursday that tiragolumab, when used in combination with another drug, did not slow disease progression or prolong survival compared with a combination that included Keytruda.

This move represents another significant setback for the Swiss pharmaceutical giant in its battle to innovate within the highly competitive oncology landscape.