The long-standing collaboration that had existed between the Korean subsidiaries of Merck and Pfizer Korea for the immunotherapy ‘Bavencio’ has come to a close.

According to industry sources, the companies are in the process of handling the rights for the PD-L1-inhibiting immunotherapy Bavencio (avelumab) in Korea as Merck retrieved the global rights for the drug.

As a result, Pfizer Korea’s Bavencio-related personnel (marketing, sales) will also be reassigned to different posts. The two companies have jointly developed and marketed Bavencio after forging a partnership in 2014.

Also, the ongoing processes for expanding reimbursement to the first-line in urothelial cel