Merck Poised To Be First To Market With A PD-1 For First-Line Lung Cancer

Positive progression-free survival and overall survival data from Merck & Co. Inc.’s high profile KEYNOTE-024 trial testing Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) positions Keytruda to beat Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo (nivolumab) to a first-line lung cancer indication.

The winner long-term in the high stakes market remains very much up in the air, however, as the details of the trial were not released. Bristol’s trial in a similar...