Keytruda train rumbles on with more positive data at ESMO 2017

Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) has made two presentations from its KEYNOTE clinical program at the European Society of Medical Oncology congress in Madrid, adding to the growing body of positive data for the American firm’s flagship immuno-oncology drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

Data from the registrational Phase II KEYNOTE-059 trial, which is exploring Keytruda in patients with advanced gastric cancer, showed: “antitumor activity and durability of response across multiple lines of therapy.”

In heavily pre-treated patients treated with solo Keytruda, there was an overall response rate of 12%, whereas for patients with PD-L1 positive tumors there was an ORR of 16%. In treatment-naive patients of this type, the ORR was 26%.