Merck's Keytruda-Padcev Combo Boosts Survival In Pivotal Bladder Cancer Trial

Core Insights - Merck & Co. Inc. announced positive topline results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-B15 trial for Keytruda in combination with Padcev for muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients eligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy [1][2] Group 1: Trial Results - The combination of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in event-free survival (EFS), overall survival (OS), and pathologic complete response (pCR) rates compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery [2] - The trial was conducted in collaboration with Pfizer Inc and Astellas Pharma Inc, and the safety profile of the combination was consistent with known safety profiles of each agent, with no new safety signals identified [3] Group 2: Future Plans - Merck plans to share the trial results with regulatory authorities worldwide for potential regulatory filings and will present the data at an upcoming medical meeting [4] - Three additional Phase 3 studies are currently evaluating Keytruda across all stages of bladder cancer, including non-muscle-invasive, muscle-invasive, and metastatic [4] Group 3: Stock Performance - Following the announcement, Merck's stock showed an upward trend, increasing by 0.37% to $98.63 at the time of publication [5]