Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, and its U.S. affiliate, EMD Serono, Inc. announced that they are resuming their Stimuvax® (BLP25 liposome vaccine)* clinical program in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) which includes the Phase III studies, STARTa and INSPIREb. The treatment and enrollment in these studies will restart after approval by the local regulatory authorities and ethics committees.

“Merck Serono remains highly committed to the development of BLP25 liposome vaccine and the well-being of the patients. We believe this therapeutic cancer vaccine has the potential to be a valuable addition to the future range of therapies for oncologists and their patients,” said Dr. Wolfgang Wein, Executive Vice President, Oncology, Merck Serono.

This announcement follows a decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to partially lift the clinical hold it placed on the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for BLP25 liposome vaccine in March 2010 and allow the START trial to be resumed.