Expanded Indication OKd for Merck’s KEYTRUDA in Locally Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

 Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded label for KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) that is not curable by surgery or radiation. This approval is based on data from the second interim analysis of the Phase 2 KEYNOTE-629 trial, in which KEYTRUDA demonstrated an objective response rate (ORR) of 50% (95% CI, 36-64) (n=54), including a complete response rate of 17% and a partial response rate of 33% in the cohort of patients with locally advanced disease. Among the 27 responding patients, 81% had a duration of response (DOR) of six months or longer, and 37% had a DOR of 12 months or longer. In June 2020, KEYTRUDA was granted its first indication in cSCC, as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic disease that is not curable by surgery or radiation.

"This approval is great news for these patients and further demonstrates Merck’s commitment to the skin cancer community. KEYTRUDA has shown meaningful efficacy in patients with locally advanced or recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma that cannot be cured by surgery or radiation," said Dr. Vicki Goodman, vice president, clinical research, Merck Research Laboratories. "This expanded indication reinforces the role of KEYTRUDA in this cancer type, which is the second most common form of non-melanoma skin cancer."

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