BioLineRx Ltd. announced the initiation of a second Phase 2a trial investigating BL-8040 in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), MSD's anti-PD-1 therapy, in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The open-label, single center, single-arm Phase 2a study aims to evaluate the potential of BL-8040 in combination with KEYTRUDA in pancreatic cancer and focuses on the mechanism-of-action by which both drugs might synergize. In addition to assessing clinical response, the study includes multiple assessments to evaluate the biological anti-tumor effects induced by the combination. The investigator-sponsored study is part of a strategic, immuno-oncology, clinical research collaboration between MSD (known as Merck in the US and Canada) and MD Anderson Cancer Center aimed at evaluating Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA, in combination with various treatments and novel drugs. BL-8040, BioLineRx's lead oncology platform, is a CXCR4 antagonist that has been shown in several clinical trials to be a robust mobilizer of immune cells and to be effective at inducing direct tumor cell death. Additional findings in the field of immuno-oncology suggest that CXCR4 antagonists may be effective in inducing the infiltration of anti-tumor T cells into the tumor. Therefore, when combined with KEYTRUDA, which blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes, BL-8040 has the potential to enable activated T cells to better reach tumor cells in the fight against pancreatic cancer.