Keytruda® Has Now Been FDA-Approved In 38 Separate Oncology Indications; Will Become World's Best Selling Drug By Year End 2023...

This is. . . just one gargantuan freight train. . . and it just will not. . . slow down much -- before 2032, or so.

You may trust me that the people talking any form of "doom and gloom" as early as 2028 (on first patent expiry). . . just don't understand continuations and reformulations and . . . frankly. . . evergreening, of patents in pharma. Even if all that misses -- it will be a slow entry, given how hard it is, from a biotech standpoint, to make an equivalent immuno oncology agent, and get generic FDA approvals.

So, even if pembrolizumab declines a bit in 2029 or '30. . . it will still almost certainly still be an over $25 billion a year [yes, with a "B"!] juggernaut. Here's the latest, from Fierce Pharma:

. . .[It's good news] for Keytruda, [as] the blessing is its seventh indication in gastrointestinal cancers in the United States and the 38th overall for the checkpoint inhibitor which is poised this year to overtake AbbVie’s Humira as the world’s top selling drug. Merck reported sales of $20.9 billion last year for Keytruda, which was a 22% increase from 2021. . . .

The approval was based on data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-859 trial, which showed Keytruda plus chemotherapy reduced the risk of death by 22% compared to chemotherapy alone. Median overall survival was 12.9 months for patients on the combo versus 11.5 months for those on chemotherapy. . . .

Onward, to another warmish, and sunny Fall Friday. . . grinning ear to ear.

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