Merck’s Keytruda Combo Therapy OK’d by European Commission

The European Commission gave the green light for Merck’s Keytruda, granting it EU approval for first-line treatment of lung cancer patients in combination with Pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy.

The anti-PD-1 therapy is approved for patients with nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumors do not have EGFR or ALK positive mutations.

The Phase 3 Keynote-189 trial showed a significant survival benefit when using Keytruda with chemotherapy as opposed to standard-of-care chemotherapy by itself.