Merck & Co’s Keytruda Gets Foot In The Door For First-Line Gastric Cancer

Results presented as ASCO from the mixed KEYNOTE-062 study suggest a place for pembrolizumab in first-line gastric cancer but data from other ongoing trials will be needed to support filings amid looming competition from Opdivo.

All roads lead to Chicago and ASCO for oncologists • Source: Shutterstock

Keytruda’s favorable side effect profile and hints of a benefit in a subpopulation are keeping hopes aloft that the checkpoint inhibitor will have a place in the treatment of newly diagnosed patients with gastric and gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) cancer following the presentation of the full results from Merck & Co. Inc.’s KEYNOTE-062 study.

The results of the first Phase III trial testing an anti-PD-1 therapy as a front-line treatment for this patient population were mixed, but suggest that Keytruda, already approved for third-line...

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