Merck's Keytruda: A Remarkable Science-To-Success Story

With the probability of a drug making it from discovery to FDA approval extremely low – with some estimates putting the success rate at only one in every 5,000 – the story of how Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) came to the marketplace is nothing short of remarkable.

With the probability of a drug making it from discovery to FDA approval extremely low – with some estimates putting the success rate at only one in every 5,000 – the story of how Merck's checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) came to the marketplace is nothing short of remarkable.

Indeed, said Eric Rubin, vice president of early oncology clinical research at Merck, Keytruda went from its first in-human study to being approved by the FDA in less than four...

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