Summary
Merck obtains expanded FDA approval for Keytruda combination treating front-line patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
The Keytruda combination proved to reduce the risk of death by 51% in patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
The expanded FDA approval for the Keytruda combination was made possible because of a new pilot program at the FDA to speed up the approval process known as Real-Time Review.
Merck's Keytruda is the strongest thus far in the front-line lung cancer space and that won't change until better data from other companies are brought to light.
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Recently, Merck (MRK) announced that it had obtained FDA approval for an expanded label of its PD-1 drug Keytruda to treat front-line metastatic patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This was an earlier than expected win and that is because of a new program that the FDA has brought about to speed up approvals for cancer drugs. This is definitely good news because it will add to its arsenal of indications it is already going after with Keytruda. For that reason, I believe that Merck is a strong buy.
