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Home » Directories » FDA Approved Drugs » Keytruda (pembrolizumab)

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Keytruda (pembrolizumab)

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    General Information

    Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body’s immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. 

    Keytruda is specifically indicated as monotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or metastatic NSCLC, and whose tumors express PD-L1 (tumor proportion score [TPS] ≥1%) as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.

    Keytruda is supplied as a solution for intravenous administration. The recommended dose of Keytruda in NSCLC is 200 mg administered as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes every three weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, or up to 24 months in patients without disease progression.

    When administering Keytruda in combination with chemotherapy, Keytruda should be administered prior to chemotherapy when given on the same day.

    Clinical Results

    FDA Approval

    The FDA approval of Keytruda was based on the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-042 trial. The randomized, multi-center, open-label, active-controlled trial in patients with stage III NSCLC who were not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or metastatic NSCLC, and whose tumors expressed PD-L1 (TPS ≥1%) and who had not received prior systemic treatment for metastatic NSCLC. Patients with EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations; autoimmune disease that required systemic therapy within two years of treatment; a medical condition that required immunosuppression; or who had received more than 30 Gy of radiation in the thoracic region within 26 weeks prior to initiation of study treatment were ineligible. The study enrolled 1,274 patients who were randomized (1:1) to receive Keytruda 200 mg intravenously every three weeks (n=637) or investigator’s choice of either of the following chemotherapy regimens (n=637):

    • Pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 every three weeks and carboplatin AUC 5 to 6 mg/mL/min every three weeks on Day 1 for a maximum of six cycles followed by optional pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 every three weeks for patients with nonsquamous histologies; or
    • Paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 every three weeks and carboplatin AUC 5 to 6 mg/mL/min every three weeks on Day 1 for a maximum of six cycles followed by optional pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 every three weeks for patients with nonsquamous histologies

    Treatment with Keytruda continued until RECIST v1.1 (modified to follow a maximum of 10 target lesions and a maximum of 5 target lesions per organ)-defined progression of disease, unacceptable toxicity, or a maximum of 24 months. The main efficacy outcome measure was OS in the subgroup of patients with TPS ≥50% NSCLC, the subgroup of patients with TPS ≥20% NSCLC, and the overall population with TPS ≥1% NSCLC. In the trial, Keytruda monotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in OS compared with chemotherapy alone in patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1 with a TPS ≥50%, with a TPS ≥20%, and then in the entire study population (TPS ≥1%).

    Side Effects

    Adverse effects associated with the use of Keytruda as a single agent may include, but are not limited to, the following:

    fatigue

    musculoskeletal pain

    decreased appetite

    pruritus

    diarrhea

    nausea

    rash

    pyrexia

    cough

    dyspnea

    constipation

    pain

    abdominal pain

    Adverse effects associated with the use of Keytruda in combination with chemotherapy may include, but are not limited to, the following:

    fatigue/asthenia

    nausea

    constipation

    diarrhea

    decreased appetite

    rash

    vomiting

    cough

    dyspnea

    pyrexia

    alopecia

    peripheral neuropathy

     

     

    Mechanism of Action

    Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an anti-PD-1 therapy that works by increasing the ability of the body’s immune system to help detect and fight tumor cells. Keytruda is a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interaction between PD-1 and its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating T lymphocytes which may affect both tumor cells and healthy cells.

    Additional Information

    For additional information regarding Keytruda or stage III non-small cell lung cancer, please visit https://www.keytruda.com/

    Approval Date: 2019-04-01
    Company Name: Merck
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