HQ Team
June 20, 2023: Merck Group’s investigational drug Keytruda, to treat gastric cancer, has failed to meet one of its two set goals, according to a NASDAQ filing.
The German multinational science and technology company’s drug, along with chemotherapy achieved the intended target of reducing signs of cancer when compared to chemotherapy alone.
“In an interim analysis conducted by an independent data monitoring committee, the study met one of its primary endpoints of pathological complete response rate and demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the rates compared with chemotherapy alone,” according to the filing.
However the second goal of the combination “did not meet statistical significance per the pre-specified statistical analysis plan” to achieve an “event-free survival.”
Headquartered in Darmstadt the group has a presence in 66 countries. There are about 250 companies within the group — the main being, Merck KGaA in Germany.
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer – also called stomach cancer – is a type of cancer that begins in the stomach and tends to develop slowly over many years.
About 90-95% of gastric cancers are adenocarcinomas, which develop from cells in the innermost lining of the stomach, known as the mucosa. Gastric cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide.
Approximately 1.1 million patients were diagnosed and 768,000 patients died from the disease globally in 2020.
In the US, it is estimated there will be approximately 26,500 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer and 11,000 patient deaths from the disease in 2023.
