Merck has said it will abandon the KEYNOTE-991 study of PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) after it showed no benefit on either overall survival (OS) or radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) when the data was analysed midway though.
The company will, however, draw some comfort from the results of a phase 3 trial in biliary tract cancer (BTC), which has given Keytruda a chance of becoming the first rival to AstraZeneca’s PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi (durvalumab) in this rare and aggressive form of cancer with limited treatment options.
