World’s Biggest Blockbuster, Merck’s Keytruda Fails in Lung Cancer Trial

Merck&rsquo;s cancer drug Keytruda, a PD-1 inhibitor that treats 17 tumor types and other cancers based on genetic alterations, generated $25 billion in revenue in 2023, representing 40% of the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant&rsquo;s revenue. Given an aging population and other societal factors and that cancer is on the rise, this represents big money for Big Pharma. But this drug that&rsquo;s been on a tear just fell short in the Phase 3 KEYLYNK&mdash;006 clinical trial, failing to meet primary endpoints including overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as first-line regimen of metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Importantly, the OS endpoint is a key metric used in medical research, particularly in clinical trials and studies related to cancer treatments. It refers to the length of time from either the diagnosis of a disease or the start of treatment until death from any cause. In cancer research, it's often used as a primary endpoint to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment or intervention. PFS is another important metric used in clinical research, particularly in oncology and other fields where disease progression is a primary concern. PFS refers to the length of time during and after treatment of a disease that a patient lives with the disease without it progressing or worsening. Progression typically refers to the growth of a tumor or spread of the disease, but it can vary depending on the specific condition being studied.