Merck says cancer drug boosts survival of advanced melanoma patients.
The Wall Street Journal (11/18, Subscription Publication, 5.91M) reports Merck & Co. provided an update Monday to its early-stage study of a melanoma treatment, showing that it has an 81 percent survival rate at the one-year mark. The pharmaceutical giant provided data on its investigational MK-3475 against advanced melanoma at the International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research, reports the Journal.
Bloomberg News (11/19, Cortez, 1.91M) provides more details, noting the drug being “evaluated in nine different malignancies kept more than four of five melanoma patients alive for a year in a study,” including patients who had “exhausted all other treatment options.” The study found 41 percent “responded to treatment and 9 percent showed evidence of the tumor disappearing.” The drug belongs to a new group of medicines called PD-1 inhibitors “that harness the body’s immune system to attack cancer.” Merck is evaluating the drug in more than 3,000 patients suffering from cancers such as lung, bladder, breast and colorectal tumors, the article notes.
