Did Merck Just Receive a Gift From the FDA?

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is scary. Undergoing treatment to fight the cancer can be just as frightening. Doing it in the midst of a global pandemic raises the stakes even further. Luckily, a new treatment regimen for certain types of cancer may halve the number of patient visits to the clinic for therapy.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) announced on April 28 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted accelerated approval for a new treatment schedule for its marquee cancer drug, Keytruda. For context, Keytruda posted $11.1 billion in sales last year. Its closest competitor, Opdivo from Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), generated $7.2 billion in 2019 sales. The stakes are high for these blockbuster drugs, which have changed the cancer treatment landscape in recent years.

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Source Fool.com