MK 3475 success in updated data from Phase 1b KEYNOTE-001 trial for advanced Melanoma - Merck Inc.,

New data from the large ongoing Phase 1b study (KEYNOTE-001) evaluating pembrolizumab (MK-3475), Merck�s investigational anti-PD-1 antibody, as a single agent (monotherapy) in 411 patients with advanced Melanoma. Following treatment with pembrolizumab, the estimated overall survival (OS) rate at one year was 69 percent across all patients studied, including 74 percent in patients without prior ipilimumab therapy (current standard therapy) and 65 percent in patients who had progressive disease on or following ipilimumab. At 18 months, the estimated OS was 62 percent. The median OS has not been reached, with some patients receiving treatment with pembrolizumab as monotherapy for more than two years. These new data were be presented in an oral session by Dr. Antoni Ribas, professor, Hematology/Oncology and Surgery, and director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago (Abstract #LBA9000;)