Japanese nod for Bavencio in MCC

Bavencio (avelumab) became the first and only treatment indicated for curatively unresectable Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in Japan on Wednesday in a regulatory decision that also makes it the first anti-PD-L1 to be available in the Asian country.

The drug is being developed and commercialized in a partnership between German drugmaker Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) and US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). It is the fifth approval for Bavencio in 2017 and the first in an Asian market.