Merck (MRK) is scheduled to report results of its second fiscal quarter before the market open on Friday, July 27, with a conference call scheduled for 8:00 am ET. What to watch for: 1. KEYTRUDA TRIAL WIN: This past Wednesday, Merck announced that the pivotal Phase 3 Keynote-048 trial investigating Keytruda, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, for first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma met a primary endpoint of overall survival, or OS, as monotherapy in patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1. China regulators fell in line quickly, as the company announced on Thursday that Keytruda had been approved by the China National Drug Administration for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma following failure of one prior line of therapy. 2. ONCOLOGY PIPELINE: Merck reported solid first quarter results in early May with EPS slightly ahead of consensus and in-line revenue. With its quarterly report, the drug maker noted that it expanded its focus in oncology by further advancing the development program for Keytruda, the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, and Lynparza , a PARP inhibitor being co-developed and co-commercialized with AstraZeneca (AZN). 3. DIABETES COMPETITION: In late June, diabetes rival Novo Nordisk (NVO) announced that diabetes treatment oral semaglutide trial achieved its primary objective for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. According to a FiercePharma article out on June 29, Novo Nordisk said that in a Phase 3a trial, its wannabe blockbuster, a once-daily oral GLP-1 med, had outdone Merck’s DPP-4 drug at the 26-week mark. Semaglutide topped Januvia at reducing HbA1C, an important measure of blood sugar control, and patients in the semaglutide arm also lost more weight than those in the Januvia arm, the company said.
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