Merck to further study Keytruda in prostate cancer after early success

NEW JERSEY: Merck & Co Inc said on Thursday it was launching three late-stage studies for its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda as a combination treatment for prostate cancer after the drug showed anti-tumor activity in an early-stage trial.

The interim findings of the trial testing Keytruda in combination with other cancer drugs such as Lynparza, which it jointly develops and sells with AstraZeneca, and chemotherapy docetaxel showed anti-tumor activity, Merck said.

“These promising data .. coupled with the significant unmet medical need in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, propelled us to initiate three new Phase 3 trials to further evaluate these Keytruda combination regimens,” said Roy Baynes, chief medical officer at Merck Research Laboratories.

Read More: Merck drug Keytruda succeeds in late-stage esophageal cancer trial

Earlier, Merck & Co’s blockbuster drug Keytruda met the main goal of a late-stage trial testing the treatment in patients with cancers of the digestive tract, the US drugmaker said on November 14.

Keytruda, among a class of medicines called PD-1 inhibitors, was Merck’s top selling drug and had already been approved to treat several forms of cancer including skin and lung cancer.

PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors work by blocking a mechanism of tumors that allows them to evade detection by cancer-fighting cells.

Keytruda, when compared to chemotherapy, enabled certain patients with esophageal cancer to live longer, helping the drug meet the main goal of the late-stage study, Merck said.