Datasets:

---

Recag

/

Rp_CommonC_263

like 0

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/merck-stock-gains-review-keytruda-indication-bladder-cancer-51575294974\nMerck Stock Gains as FDA Accelerates Review of New Use for Blockbuster Cancer Drug\nJosh Nathan-Kazis\nDec. 2, 2019 8:57 am ET\nKeytruda is expected to yield $11.1 billion in sales for Merck this year. Photograph by Michael Nagle/Bloomberg\nMerck stock got a modest lift as the pharmaceutical company said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted priority review to a new use for Keytruda, the blockbuster cancer drug, and is likely to decide on the application in January.\nThe indication is in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Keytruda, already approved as a treatment for a wide range of cancers both alone and in combination with other drugs, is projected to bring $11.1 billion in sales for Merck this year, according to FactSet.\n“Patients with high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer sometimes make an informed decision to decline, or are medically ineligible for radical cystectomy, and there are currently limited non-surgical treatment options approved by the FDA for these patients who are BCG-unresponsive,” said Merck Research Laboratories chief medical officer Roy Baynes in a statement early Monday morning.\nThe back story. Shares of Merck are up 14.1% so far this year. That’s close to the norm for the sector, as the S&P 500 Health Care sector index is up 14.7% over the same period. But it lags behind the S&P 500, which is up 25.3%. Merck trades at 15.6 times expected earnings over the next twelve months, close to its five-year average.\nWhat’s new. In its Monday statement, Merck said that the FDA should announce its decision on its application for the bladder cancer indication for Keytruda in January 2020. The application is based on results from a trial first discussed at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in 2018.\nThe announcement comes days after Chinese medical authorities released a list of drugs newly approved for reimbursement that did not include Keytruda. The companies that did reach deals to get their drugs on the reimbursement list agreed to provide their drugs at steep discounts, though many of the newest therapies were missing from the list.\nLooking ahead. In a note out Sunday, Mizuho analyst Mara Goldstein wrote that Keytruda’s absence from the list wasn’t necessarily bad for the company.\n“MRK has not disclosed details regarding KEYTRUDA’s inclusion/exclusion from the [list], but it is within the realm of possibility, in our view, that the company could have decided that with current approvals and data in China...national reimbursement may not have been worth the cost,” Goldstein wrote.\nShares of Merck were up 0.5% in premarket trading on Monday.\nWrite to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com\nMerck stock got a modest lift as the pharmaceutical company said that the U."