Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Merck Wins EU-Wide Approval (27 Additional Nations), With Chemo, For Esophageal Cancers... Keytruda® Rolls On...


It must be said: Keytruda® is a dream franchise. In a few short years (barring some crazy new drug launch), it will be the best selling drug on the planet, by revenue.

It's been over a year since we last mentioned this topic -- but it remains truer now, than it was two or three years ago: the overall global revenues are. . . staggering. The immuno-oncology franchises just keep. . . growing. And growing. . . at $3.9 billion a quarter, now (as of Q1 2021) and over a projected 20 per cent per year, to about $17.6 billion in the full year 2021, in all likelihood. Amazing.

This is why big pharma is almost always a solid bet. The flexibility this cash juggernaut affords (to try new things/ventures, do R&D and pursue next gen therapies) is rivaled only by a cross-sectors company like. . . Apple. Here's the latest good news:

. . .Merck & Co. Inc. said the European Commission has approved its Keytruda drug in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of certain patients with esophageal cancer.

The approval lets the company market the Keytruda combination in all 27 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Northern Ireland, Merck said Tuesday.

Merck said the approval is based on a Phase 3 trial in which a Keytruda combination demonstrated improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival.

The company said it is continuing to study Keytruda in multiple settings and stages of gastrointestinal cancer, including studies in esophageal, gastric, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, colorectal and anal cancers. . . .


Good news, indeed -- onward, into a rainy but warm Tuesday morning. . . smiling.

नमस्ते

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