By Colin Kellaher

 

Merck & Co. (MRK) on Thursday said Health Canada approved its cancer drug Keytruda in combination with Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Inlyta for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer.

The Kenilworth, N.J., drug maker said the approval is based on a phase 3 study that showed significant improvements in overall survival, progression-free survival and objective response rate for the combination compared with sunitinib.

Keytruda, which was first approved in Canada in 2015, currently has 14 indications in several disease areas in the country, Merck said.

Merck last year received U.S. and European Union approval for the Keytruda/Inlyta combination in advanced renal cell carcinoma.

 

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2020 08:06 ET (13:06 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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