As rivals wait in line, Merck's Keytruda scores early FDA nod for frontline patients with the most common form of kidney cancer
Merck’s keystone immunotherapy Keytruda is poised to become the key frontline therapy for a common form of kidney cancer, ahead of checkpoint inhibitor rivals who are vying for a piece of the market for previously untreated patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Topline data released last October showed a combination of Keytruda and Pfizer’s $PFE tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) Inlyta in the KEYNOTE-426 trial improved overall survival, progression-free survival and overall response rates across risk groups, regardless of PD-L1 status, compared to Pfizer’s Sutent in first-line RCC patients. Merck $MRK offered further detail in February, indicating the Keytruda combo significantly improved OS [reducing the risk of death by nearly half (HR 0.53)] as well as PFS (HR 0.69).
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