In a late-stage clinical trial testing Merck's blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda as a standalone treatment for triple-negative breast cancer patients, the drug failed to meet its goal of boosting overall survival, according to Endpoints News.
The 622 patients in the trial were given Keytruda or chemotherapy.. The patients given Keytruda fared no better in terms of survival than the patients receiving chemotherapy.
Merck plans to continue to test Keytruda as a monotherapy in earlier stages of the disease and in combination with chemotherapy for the aggressive type of breast cancer.
Keytruda is approved in the U.S. for other forms of cancer, including skin and lung.
Read the full report here.