KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) as Monotherapy Significantly Improved Progression-Free Survival (PFS) in Certain Patients With Advanced or Recurrent Endometrial Cancer With Mismatch Repair Deficient (dMMR) Tumors Compared to Chemotherapy

KEYTRUDA is the first and only PD-1 inhibitor to improve PFS compared to platinum doublet chemotherapy for these patients in a Phase 3 trial

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today announced the Phase 3 KEYNOTE‑C93 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) for the treatment of patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer who had not previously received systemic chemotherapy or who experienced recurrence more than six months after completing prior adjuvant therapy. KEYTRUDA is the first and only PD-1 inhibitor to show a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS as monotherapy compared to platinum doublet chemotherapy for these patients in a Phase 3 trial.

At a pre-specified interim analysis conducted by an independent Data Monitoring Committee, a trend toward improvement in overall survival (OS), the trial’s other primary endpoint, was observed for KEYTRUDA; however, these OS data were not mature at the time of this analysis. The trial is ongoing, and OS for the full study population will be evaluated at a future analysis. This analysis also showed a clinically meaningful overall response rate (ORR), as well as complete response rate (CRR) and duration of response (DOR) for KEYTRUDA. The safety profile of KEYTRUDA in this trial was consistent with that observed in previously reported studies; no new safety signals were identified. Results will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and shared with regulatory authorities.