Recruiting
Phase 2

ADCs

Sponsor:

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

Code:

NCT06780098

Conditions

Lung Neoplasm

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

R-DXD

I-DXD

Docetaxel

Rescue Medications

Rescue Medication

Study Details

Brief summary:

Researchers are looking for other ways to treat metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Squamous NSCLC is cancer that starts in squamous cells, which are flat cells that line the inside of the airways in the lungs. Metastatic means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Standard treatment (usual treatment) for metastatic squamous NSCLC is immunotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is a treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer. Chemotherapy is medicine that destroys cancer cells or stops them from growing. However, standard treatment may not work or may stop working to treat metastatic squamous NSCLC.

Researchers want to learn if study treatments that are antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) can treat metastatic squamous NSCLC that did not respond (get smaller or go away) to standard treatment. An ADC attaches to a protein on cancer cells and delivers treatment to destroy those cells.

The main goals of this study are to learn about:

  • The cancer response to the study treatments compared to chemotherapy
  • The safety of the study treatments and if people tolerate them

This study is one of the substudies being conducted under one pembrolizumab umbrella master protocol (MK-3475-U01/KEYMAKER-U01).

Conditions

Lung Neoplasm

Study ID

NCT06780098

Start date

May 28, 2025

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Mar 2, 2032

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 2, 2032

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

The main inclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:

  • Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of Stage IV squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
  • Has documented disease progression per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors 1.1 (RECIST 1.1), as assessed by investigator after receiving an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (anti-PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) treatment and platinum-based chemotherapy for Stage IV disease
  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected participants 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
  • Participants with history of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable

Exclusion Criteria:

The main exclusion criteria include but are not limited to the following:

  • Diagnosis of small cell lung cancer or, for mixed tumors, presence of small cell elements
  • Has uncontrolled or significant cardiovascular disorder
  • Clinically severe pulmonary compromise resulting from intercurrent pulmonary illnesses including, but not limited to, any underlying pulmonary disorder (ie, pulmonary emboli within 3 months, severe asthma, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, restrictive lung disease, pleural effusion, etc), or any autoimmune, connective tissue, or inflammatory disorders with pulmonary involvement (ie, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, sarcoidosis, etc), or prior pneumonectomy
  • Participants who have adverse events (AEs) (other than alopecia) due to previous anticancer therapies must have recovered to ≤Grade 1 or baseline
  • Has clinically significant corneal disease
  • Has previously received docetaxel as monotherapy or in combination with other therapies
  • Known additional malignancy that is progressing or has required active treatment within the past 3 years
  • Has known untreated central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis
  • Evidence of any leptomeningeal disease
  • Has one or more of the following indicators of interstitial lung disease (ILD)/pneumonitis: any history of ILD/pneumonitis irrespective of steroid use (except for a history of radiation pneumonitis that did not require steroids), current diagnosis of ILD, clinical or radiographic suspicion of ILD
  • Active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years. Replacement therapy (eg, thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid) is allowed
  • Active infection requiring systemic therapy
  • HIV-infected participants with a history of Kaposi's sarcoma and/or Multicentric Castleman's Disease
  • Active inflammatory bowel disease requiring immunosuppressive medication or previous clear history of inflammatory bowel disease (eg, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or chronic diarrhea)
  • Known history of, or active, neurologic paraneoplastic syndrome
  • History of allogeneic tissue/solid organ transplant
  • Has not adequately recovered from major surgery or have ongoing surgical complications

Study Design

Enrollment

144 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Arm 1: Raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXD)

Participants receive 5.6 mg/kg of R-DXD, every 3 weeks (Q3W) (Day 1 of every 21-day cycle) via intravenous (IV) infusion until progressive disease (PD) or discontinuation.

experimental: Arm 2: Infinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXD) High Dose

Participants receive 12 mg/kg of I-DXD, Q3W (Day 1 of every 21-day cycle) via IV infusion until PD or discontinuation.

experimental: Arm 3: I-DXD Low Dose

Participants receive 8 mg/kg of I-DXD, Q3W (Day 1 of every 21-day cycle) via IV infusion until PD or discontinuation.

active comparator: Arm 4: Docetaxel

Participants receive 75 mg/m\^2 of Docetaxel, Q3W (Day 1 of every 21-day cycle) via IV infusion until PD or discontinuation.

Interventions

R-DXD

IV Infusion

I-DXD

IV Infusion

Docetaxel

IV Infusion

Rescue Medications

Participants receive rescue medications consisting of a combination regimen to include corticosteroids with a 5-hydroxytryptamine subtype 3 receptor antagonist and/or a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, all per approved product label and following institutional standards or local guidelines.

Rescue Medication

Participants are premedicated with corticosteroids per approved product label and following institutional standards or local guidelines.

Primary outcome measure

  • Objective Response Rate (ORR) [ Time Frame: Up to approximately 81 months ]
  • Number of participants who experience one or more adverse events (AEs) [ Time Frame: Up to approximately 81 months ]
  • Number of participants who discontinue study intervention due to an AE [ Time Frame: Up to approximately 81 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Toll Free Number

1-888-577-8839Trialsites@msd.com

Locations

University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center ( Site 0019)

Recruiting

Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40536-0293

Contacts

Study Coordinator

859-257-1000

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center ( Site 0033)

Recruiting

Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21237

Contacts

Study Coordinator

443-777-7147

Texas Oncology - DFW ( Site 8003)

Recruiting

Dallas, Texas, United States, 75246-2046

Contacts

Study Coordinator

214-370-1067

More Information

Sponsor

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

Last update posted

Aug 25, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC on 2026-08-25.