Anti-Ly6E Exatecan ADC M7437 in Advanced Solid Tumors

December 29, 2025 updated by: Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

A Phase 1, 2-Part, Multicenter, Open-Label, First-in-Human Study of the Anti-Ly6E Exatecan Antibody-Drug Conjugate M7437 in Participants With Advanced Solid Tumors

The purpose of this first-in-human (FIH) study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, Pharmacokinetics (PK), and preliminary clinical activity of M7437 in participants with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors with known Ly6E expression, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC), squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and gastric cancer (GC).

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

138

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Germany
      • Darmstadt, Germany
        • Research Site

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants have histologically proven advanced solid tumors with known prevalent and high Ly6E expression, Disease characteristic: Participants should have an unresectable locally advanced or metastatic solid tumor that is refractory to standard therapies, or have no standard therapies, or for which no standard therapy is judged appropriate by the Investigator.

For each tumor type, participants have received prior lines of therapy, where locally available:

  • Non-small cell lung cancer (nonsquamous or squamous)
  • Triple-negative breast cancer
  • Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck
  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
  • Gastric cancer

  • Epithelial ovarian cancer

    • Participants with ECOG Performance Status (ECOG) less than and equal to (<=) 1
    • Participants must have blood, liver, and kidney function within safe levels.
    • Other protocol defined inclusion criteria may apply

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participant has a history of another malignancy within 3 years before the date of enrollment (exceptions are squamous and basal cell carcinomas of the skin and carcinoma in situ of the cervix, benign prostate neoplasm/hyperplasia, or malignancy that in the opinion of the Investigator, with concurrence with the Sponsor's Medical Monitor, is considered cured with minimal risk of recurrence within 3 years before the date of enrollment). History of hematopoietic allogenic transplantation.

  • Participants with known brain metastases, except those meeting both of the following criteria:

    1. All brain metastases have been treated locally and are clinically stable for at least 4 weeks prior to the start of treatment.
    2. No ongoing neurological symptoms that are related to the brain localization of the disease (sequelae that are a consequence of the treatment of the brain metastases are acceptable).
  • Participants with diarrhea (liquid stool) or ileus Grade more than (>) 1 within 1 week of Cycle1Day1.
  • Participants with active chronic inflammatory bowel disease and/or bowel obstruction.
  • Participants with history of serious gastrointestinal bleeding within 3 months of Cycle1Day1.
  • Other protocol defined exclusion criteria may apply.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Part 1: Dose-escalation Cohort
Drug: M7437
Participants will receive M7437 as an intravenous infusion at a dose corresponding to their assigned cohort. Dose escalation will occur between cohorts, with 3-4 participants enrolled at each dose level before proceeding to the next higher dose.
Drug: M7437
Participants will receive M7437 at a dose that was determined as recommended dose for expansion (RDE) in Part 1.
Experimental: Part 2: Dose-Expansion Cohort
Drug: M7437
Participants will receive M7437 as an intravenous infusion at a dose corresponding to their assigned cohort. Dose escalation will occur between cohorts, with 3-4 participants enrolled at each dose level before proceeding to the next higher dose.
Drug: M7437
Participants will receive M7437 at a dose that was determined as recommended dose for expansion (RDE) in Part 1.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Dose-escalation Cohort: Occurences of Dose Limiting Toxicities (DLTs)
Time Frame: DLT period is 21 days (cycle 1)
DLT period is 21 days (cycle 1)
Dose-escalation Cohort: Number of Participants With Treatment-Emergent Adverse Event (TEAEs) and Adverse Event (AEs)
Time Frame: Up to end of Part 1 of study (approximately 1 year 8 months)
Up to end of Part 1 of study (approximately 1 year 8 months)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Dose-escalation Cohort: Plasma Concentration of M7437
Time Frame: Cycle 1 Day 1: Pre-dose, 0.25, 6, 24, 96, 168 and 336 hours post-dose; Cycle 3 Day 1: Pre-dose, 0.25, 6 and 168 hours post-dose; Pre-dose at Day 1 of Cycles 2, 4, 6, 8 until end of treatment (approximately 1 year 8 months) (Each Cycle length=21 days)
Cycle 1 Day 1: Pre-dose, 0.25, 6, 24, 96, 168 and 336 hours post-dose; Cycle 3 Day 1: Pre-dose, 0.25, 6 and 168 hours post-dose; Pre-dose at Day 1 of Cycles 2, 4, 6, 8 until end of treatment (approximately 1 year 8 months) (Each Cycle length=21 days)
Dose-escalation Cohort: Overall Response (OR) According to Response Evaluation Criteria inSolid Tumor (RECIST) version 1.1 criteria as Assessed by Investigator
Time Frame: From the date of first documented complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), whichever occurs first, until the first documented disease recurrence or progressive disease (PD) (assessed upto [approximately 1 year 8 months])
From the date of first documented complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), whichever occurs first, until the first documented disease recurrence or progressive disease (PD) (assessed upto [approximately 1 year 8 months])
Change From The Baseline Qtc (Δqtc) At Predefined Timepoints Based on Triplicate Electrocardiogram (ECG) Measurements
Time Frame: Baseline, Cycle 1 Day 1, Cycle 1 Day 2, Cycle 1 Day 5, Cycle 1 Day 8, Cycle 2 Day 1, Cycle 3 Day 1 (each cycle is of 21 days)
Baseline, Cycle 1 Day 1, Cycle 1 Day 2, Cycle 1 Day 5, Cycle 1 Day 8, Cycle 2 Day 1, Cycle 3 Day 1 (each cycle is of 21 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Collaborators

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Investigators

  • Study Director: Medical Responsible, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

January 2, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 20, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 28, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 21, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 29, 2025

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MS743701_0001
  • 176325 (Other Identifier: IND)
  • 2025-523232-39-00 (Ctis)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

We are committed to enhancing public health through responsible sharing of clinical trial data. Following approval of a new product or a new indication for an approved product in both the US and the European Union, the study sponsor and/or its affiliated companies will share study protocols, anonymized patient data and study level data, and redacted clinical study reports with qualified scientific and medical researchers, upon request, as necessary for conducting legitimate research. Further information on how to request data can be found on our website http://bit.ly/IPD21

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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