NICE backs Keytruda for NHS use in a subtype of colorectal cancer

Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) blockbuster anti-PD-1 therapy, has notched up another positive reimbursement decision.

This time, the UK health technology assessor, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), has approved Keytruda as a first-line treatment option for adults with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancers with high levels of microsatellite instability (MSI-H) or DNA mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR), to be available on the National Health Service (NHS).

The immunotherapy was granted a European license for this patient population in January 2021 and has been recommended by the NICE shortly after, following its first appraisal meeting, said MSD, the trading name of US pharma giant Merck outside the USA and Canada.