Five new indications approved for Keytruda in Japan

There was more good news for Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) top-selling drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) with the approval of more indications in Japan.

Merck, known as MSD outside the USA and Canada, said Keytruda has simultaneously received five new approvals from the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), including three expanded uses in advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC), one in melanoma, as well as a new indication in advanced microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) tumors.

Keytruda, which generated sales of over $5 billion in the first nine months of 2018, is marketed by MSD in Japan and is co-promoted with Taiho Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Japan’s Otsuka (TYO: 4768).