US pharmaceutical giant Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD; NYSE: MRK) has announced that its immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) has received approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China for a new indication. The drug is now approved as a first-line treatment for locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in combination with chemotherapies. This marks the 12th indication approval for Keytruda in the China market.
Keytruda, a programmed-death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, was initially approved in China in July 2018. Since then, it has received approvals covering a range of cancers including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma (CRC), gastric cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and breast cancer.- Flcube.com
