Why Merck & Co.'s $95 Million Bet on cCAM Biotherapeutics in 2015 Did Not Pay Off

When Merck acquired cCAM Biotherapeutics in Israel in the summer of 2015, R&D chief Roger Perlmutter and his crew were intrigued by the potential of its lead drug, CM-24, in targeting the immune checkpoint protein CEACAM1. The drug, in Phase I, offered an opportunity for a range of cancers where the pharma giant has been closely focused.

In Perlmutter’s words the drug hit a sweet spot for the developer of Keytruda: “stimulating tumor-directed immune responses.”

It didn’t work.

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