Merck's Keytruda Gets Approvals For Recurrent Breast, Colorectal Cancer Treatments In Japan

(RTTNews) - Merck & Co Inc. (MRK) said that its anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda, has received two new approvals from the Japan Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency.

Keytruda is approved for the treatment of patients with PD-L1-positive, hormone receptor-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, inoperable or recurrent breast cancer.

In addition, Keytruda as a monotherapy is approved for the treatment of patients with unresectable, advanced or recurrent high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) colorectal cancer.

With these approvals, Keytruda has 15 authorized uses in Japan, including indications in nine tumor types as well as MSI-H tumors.