UK NHS to pay for Keytruda and chemo combo in squamous NSCLC

The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended provision of Keytruda (pembrolizumab), in combination with chemotherapy, as first-line treatment for untreated squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

This means that National Health Service (NHS) patients in the UK with this particularly hard-to-treat form of lung cancer will, for the first time, have access to an immunotherapy and chemotherapy combination in first-line setting, via the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Approval is regardless of PD-L1 expression, further broadening access to the Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) drug for people with advanced lung cancer.