7 June 2018 - - Kenilworth, New Jersey-based global healthcare solutions provider Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, has released results from the KEYNOTE-407 Phase 3 study evaluating Keytruda, Merck's anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) therapy, in combination with carboplatin-paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel, as first-line treatment for metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the company said.
In this study, the Keytruda plus chemotherapy combination significantly improved overall survival (OS), reducing the risk of death by 36% compared to chemotherapy alone. Median OS was 15.9 months in the Keytruda combination group and 11.3 months in the chemotherapy alone group.
The addition of Keytruda to carboplatin plus paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy also significantly improved progression-free survival, with a reduction in the risk of progression or death of nearly half for patients in the Keytruda combination group, compared with chemotherapy alone.
Keytruda is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body's immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. Keytruda is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes which may affect both tumor cells and healthy cells.
Merck's immuno-oncology clinical research program currently involves more than 700 trials studying Keytruda across a wide variety of cancers and treatment settings. The Keytruda clinical program seeks to understand the role of Keytruda across cancers and the factors that may predict a patient's likelihood of benefitting from treatment with Keytruda, including exploring several different biomarkers.
Merck provides healthcare solutions worldwide through four segments: pharmaceutical, animal health, healthcare services, and alliances. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies and entities, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, distributors, animal producers, and managed health care providers.