Merck pauses enrollment of KEYNOTE-183 and 185 studies to assess reports of deaths

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) says it has accepted the external Data Monitoring Committee recommendation to pause new enrollment on KEYNOTE-183 and KEYNOTE-185, two studies exploring Keytruda (pembrolizumab) treatment in combination with other therapies in multiple myeloma.

The pause is to allow for additional information to be collected to better understand more reports of death in the Keytruda groups. Patients currently enrolled in these two studies will continue to receive treatment. Other studies of Keytruda continue unchanged.

Since 2014, Keytruda has already been approved in a number of oncology indications, and in May became the first cancer drug ever approved by the US Food and Drug Administration based on patients' specific genetic traits, regardless of where in the body the disease originated.