Merck and Co Inc (MRK)

[DewDiligence]

FDA approves Keytruda for adjuvant NSCLC following adjuvant treatment with platinum chemo:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230127005078/en

Keytruda’s HR for DFS (compared to placebo) was 0.73 [95% CI: 0.60-0.89]. This is slightly better than the HR=0.76 that MRK reported when the KEYNOTE-091 trial reported in Mar 2022 (#msg-168241140); I do not know the reason for the discrepancy.

Curiously, in an exploratory analysis of patients (n=167) who did not receive adjuvant chemo, Keytruda’s HR for DFS (relative to placebo) was 1.25 (i.e. the Keytruda arm did worse than placebo), but the 95% confidence interval was wide [0.76-2.05].