WHITEHOUSE STATION (dpa-AFX) - Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, Friday announced a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or CHMP for its advanced skin cancer therapy Keytruda or pembrolizumab in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The opinion is based on more than 1,500 adult patients with advanced melanoma. It will be again reviewed by the European Commission for central marketing authorization in the European Union.
Keytruda is a humanized monoclonal antibody that can block PD-1 pathway. It is already approved in the U.S. The data for Keytruda recorded a progression free survival compared to Chemotherapy.
Melanoma, a type of skin cancer is characterized by the uncontrolled growth of pigment-producing cells.
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