Merck's Keytruda could offer cure for melanoma, study reveals

Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) improves long-term survival rates in newly diagnosed and previously treated patients with advanced melanoma and might even offer a complete cure, according to the results of an early-stage study.

Long-term follow up from a large Phase Ib trial (KEYNOTE -001) revealed that 40% of patients were alive three years after starting pembrolizumab. The median overall survival was 24.4 months. Of note, 15% of patients in the study experienced complete remission according to immune-related response criteria, and 89% remain in remission.

This is in contrast to a median overall survival of less than one year before Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) immunotherapy drug ipilimumab (Yervoy) was first approved by the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) as the first drug to extend survival in patients with advanced melanoma in 2011.