Merck: Keytruda continues to impress; shares up

(CercleFinance.com) - Merck shares are up 0.
7% on Monday after announcing promising data from a long-term trial of its immunotherapy Keytruda in lung cancer, the leading cause of death from cancer.

In a study whose results were presented at the ASCO meeting, Keytruda showed a five-year overall survival rate of 23.2% in treatment-naïve patients and 15.5% in previously treated patients.

Historically, the five-year survival rate has been around 5% for patients in the US with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, Merck said.

"More impressive still was data showing that for patients who stayed on therapy for two or more years, the five year overall survival rate was 78.6% in treatment-naïve patients and 75.8% in previously-treated patients," analysts at Credit Suisse noted.

Saying Keytruda "continues to impress," the broker maintains its "outperform" rating on the stock.

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