IQWiG finds considerable added benefit for Keytruda in lung cancer

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether pembrolizumab in lung cancer has an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.

Marketed by US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) as Keytruda, pembrolizumab) been available since July this year for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumors express the T-cell receptor ligand PD-L1 and who have received a prior chemotherapy regimen, having originally been approved for melanoma. The drug generated $919 million in sales for the first nine months of 2016.

According to the IQWiG’s findings, there is an indication of considerable added benefit of pembrolizumab for patients for whom further chemotherapy (with docetaxel or pemetrexed) or nivolumab is an option. For patients for whom these treatments are no longer indicated, however, an added benefit is not proven.