Merck's Keytruda now available for Canadians with metastatic NSCLC

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) says that its Keytruda (pembrolizumab) has received conditional approval for the treatment of Canadians living with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express PD-L1 (as determined by a validated test) and who have disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations should have disease progression on authorized therapy for these aberrations prior to receiving Keytruda. The drug has been issued marketing authorization with conditions, pending the results of studies to verify its clinical benefit.

A validated test will enable physicians to determine the level of PD-L1 expression in a patient's tumor cells. A PD-L1 expression on at least 50% of tumour cells was associated with a higher response rate and better patient outcomes.