Keytruda secures new approval in bladder cancer

The US regulator has added another approval to the list for Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda (pembrolizumab), as monotherapy for certain people with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

The Food and Drug Administration approval covers people at high risk, who have not responded to treatment with the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine.

Vice president of clinical research Scot Ebbinghaus said: “As the first anti-PD-1 therapy approved in this setting, Keytruda will be a new clinical option for a patient population that previously had limited FDA-approved therapies available.”