Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) said U.K.'s NICE issued final guidance recommending Keytruda pembrolizumab be routinely available to treat non-small cell lung cancer. The PD-1 inhibitor is the first immunotherapy to show cost-effectiveness and be recommended by the agency following its exit from the U.K.’s Cancer Drugs Fund, according to the pharma.
The drug is recommended as an option for untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic NSCLC in adults whose tumors express PD-L1 with at least a 50% tumor proportion score and no EGFR or anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive mutations. Additionally, the guidance states that Keytruda should be stopped at two years of uninterrupted treatment or earlier due to disease progression.
The agency's recommendation was based on the Phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial in the same front-line NSCLC setting comparing Keytruda to chemotherapy (see BioCentury, Aug. 22, 2016).