KENILWORTH, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Keytruda, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) that is not curable by surgery or radiation. This approval is based on data from the Phase 2 KEYNOTE-629 trial, in which Keytruda demonstrated meaningful efficacy and durability of response, with an objective response rate (ORR) of 34% (95% CI, 25-44), including a complete response rate of 4% and a partial response rate of 31%. Among responding patients, 69% had ongoing responses of six months or longer. After a median follow-up time of 9.5 months, the median duration of response (DOR) had not been reached (range, 2.7 to 13.1+ months).
“Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer,” said Dr. Jonathan Cheng, vice president, clinical research, Merck Research Laboratories. “In KEYNOTE-629, treatment with Keytruda resulted in clinically meaningful and durable responses. Today’s approval is great news for patients with cSCC and further demonstrates our commitment to bringing new treatment options to patients with advanced, difficult-to-treat cancers.”
Immune-mediated adverse reactions, which may be severe or fatal, can occur with Keytruda, including pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction, severe skin reactions, solid organ transplant rejection, and complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Based on the severity of the adverse reaction, Keytruda should be withheld or discontinued and corticosteroids administered if appropriate. Keytruda can also cause severe or life-threatening infusion-related reactions. Based on its mechanism of action, Keytruda can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. For more information, see “Selected Important Safety Information” below.
Data Supporting Approval
The efficacy of Keytruda was investigated in patients with recurrent or metastatic cSCC enrolled in KEYNOTE-629 (NCT03284424), a multi-center, multi-cohort, non-randomized, open-label trial. The trial excluded patients with autoimmune disease or a medical condition that required immunosuppression. The major efficacy outcome measures were ORR and DOR as assessed by blinded independent central review (BICR) according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1, modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of five target lesions per organ.
Among the 105 patients treated, 87% received one or more prior lines of therapy and 74% received prior radiation therapy. Forty-five percent of patients had locally recurrent only cSCC, 24% had metastatic only cSCC and 31% had both locally recurrent and metastatic cSCC. The study population characteristics were: median age of 72 years (range, 29 to 95); 71% age 65 or older; 76% male; 71% White; 25% race unknown; 34% Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS) of 0 and 66% ECOG PS of 1.
Keytruda demonstrated an ORR of 34% (95% CI, 25-44) with a complete response rate of 4% and a partial response rate of 31%. Among the 36 responding patients, 69% had ongoing responses of six months or longer. After a median follow-up time of 9.5 months, the median DOR had not been reached (range, 2.7 to 13.1+ months).
Patients received Keytruda 200 mg intravenously every three weeks until documented disease progression, unacceptable toxicity or a maximum of 24 months. Patients with initial radiographic disease progression could receive additional doses of Keytruda during confirmation of progression unless disease progression was symptomatic, rapidly progressive, required urgent intervention, or occurred with a decline in performance status. Assessment of tumor status was performed every six weeks during the first year and every nine weeks during the second year.
Among the 105 patients with cSCC enrolled in KEYNOTE-629, the median duration of exposure to Keytruda was 5.8 months (range, 1 day to 16.1 months). Patients with autoimmune disease or a medical condition that required systemic corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive medications were ineligible. Adverse reactions occurring in patients with cSCC were similar to those occurring in 2,799 patients with melanoma or non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with Keytruda as a single agent. Laboratory abnormalities (Grades 3-4) that occurred at a higher incidence included lymphopenia (11%).
About Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) Injection, 100 mg
Keytruda is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body’s immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. Keytruda is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes which may affect both tumor cells and healthy cells.
Merck has the industry’s largest immuno-oncology clinical research program. There are currently more than 1,200 trials studying Keytruda across a wide variety of cancers and treatment settings. The Keytruda clinical program seeks to understand the role of Keytruda across cancers and the factors that may predict a patient’s likelihood of benefitting from treatment with Keytruda, including exploring several different biomarkers.
Merck’s Focus on Cancer
Our goal is to translate breakthrough science into innovative oncology medicines to help people with cancer worldwide. At Merck, the potential to bring new hope to people with cancer drives our purpose and supporting accessibility to our cancer medicines is our commitment. As part of our focus on cancer, Merck is committed to exploring the potential of immuno-oncology with one of the largest development programs in the industry across more than 30 tumor types. We also continue to strengthen our portfolio through strategic acquisitions and are prioritizing the development of several promising oncology candidates with the potential to improve the treatment of advanced cancers. For more information about our oncology clinical trials, visit www.merck.com/clinicaltrials.
About the Merck Access Program for Keytruda
At Merck, we are committed to supporting accessibility to our cancer medicines. Merck provides multiple programs to help appropriate patients who are prescribed Keytruda have access to our anti-PD-1 therapy. The Merck Access Program provides reimbursement support for patients receiving Keytruda, including information to help with out-of-pocket costs and co-pay assistance for eligible patients. More information is available by calling 855-257-3932 or visiting www.merckaccessprogram-keytruda.com.
About Merck’s Patient Support Program for Keytruda
Merck is committed to helping provide patients and their caregivers support throughout their treatment with KEYTRUDA. The KEY+YOU Patient Support Program provides a range of resources and support. For further information and to sign up, eligible patients may call 85-KEYTRUDA (855-398-7832) or visit www.keytruda.com.
About Merck
For more than 125 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of the recent global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).
Source: Merck & Co., Inc.
Posted: June 2020
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