Following the failure of bintrafusp alfa for lung cancer last week, Merck KGaA's oncology operations have had a much better start to this week with the European Commission giving the green light to Bavencio for first-line urothelial carcinoma, which accounts for about 90% of all bladder cancers.
Just over a month after a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), Bavencio (avelumab) has been approved in the EU as monotherapy for the first-line maintenance treatment of adults with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are progression-free following platinum-based chemotherapy. The anti-PD-L1 antibody which is partnered with Pfizer Inc
