Merck Points To Antibody-Drug Conjugate Potential During Another Growth Quarter

Keytruda brought in its usual stacks of cash, but Merck’s Q3 earnings call focused largely on a recent alliance with Daiichi Sankyo and the pharma’s growing emphasis on cancer ADCs.

Merck
Merck reported another strong quarter for Keytruda thanks to earlier-stage treatment

Merck & Co., Inc. reported strong Q3 financials including continued growth for Keytruda on 26 October, but much of the focus during its earnings call centered on the recent collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. that is adding three antibody-drug conjugates in clinical development for cancer to the pharma’s pipeline. CEO Robert Davis and other execs said ADCs are a crucial part of Merck’s plans to grow its cancer franchise beyond its blockbuster checkpoint inhibitor.

Key Takeaways
  • Merck reported 7% year-over-year revenue growth, driven as usual by Keytruda, which brought in $6.3bn, a 17% year-over-year increase.

  • CEO Robert Davis predicted that all three ADCs now in clinical development that Merck added through $4bn upfront agreement with Daiichi Sankyo have multi-blockbuster revenue potential

The New Jersey pharma already is in the ADC game, having obtained US Food and Drug Administration approval for a combination regimen of its anti-PD-1 agent Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with Seagen Inc. ’s Padcev (enfortumab vedotin) in first-line locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma patients ineligible for cisplatin-based therapy. (Also see "Merck’s Keytruda And Seagen’s Padcev Become First PD-1/ADC Combo To Win US Approval" - Scrip, 4 April, 2023.) That was the first approval of a checkpoint inhibitor/ADC combination regimen, but Merck is also working with China’s Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co Ltd

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