Merck & Co follows AstraZeneca in voluntarily withdrawing indication

2 March 2021

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) became the second company in as many weeks to voluntarily withdraw a US indication for one of its drugs.

Merck will cease to market Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the treatment of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other prior line of therapy.

This decision does not affect other indications for Keytruda, Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster.

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