Following the news that pembrolizumab may be approved earlier than expected, Pfizer and Merck have announced a partnership to evaluate the PD-1 inhibitor in combination with Pfizer's Xalkori.
Two Big Pharma heavyweights in the cancer field are joining hands on yet another immuno-oncology pact, adding to a long string of combination drug partnerships that promise to amp up the impact of a growing portfolio of cancer therapies. In today's case, Merck ($MRK) and Pfizer ($PFE) have struck a deal to add the PD-1 superstar pembrolizumab to Xalkori for ALK-positive cases of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The companies are keeping the terms of the deal private, but Pfizer will take the lead on the Phase Ib study, which launches sometime next year. Both companies now have a full plate of combination pacts to explore. Earlier they had agreed to match Pfizer's Inlyta with pembrolizumab for renal cell carcinoma. Another trial will add Pfizer's experimental drug PF-2566, an IO treatment that targets the human 4-1BB receptor, for multiple cancers.
Read the complete report: http://bit.ly/XPIGkM
Source: FierceBiotech
News of the early approval of pembrolizumab: http://bit.ly/1zzj7jp
Exploring Racial, Ethnic Disparities in Cancer Care Prior Authorization Decisions
October 24th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the author of a study published in the October 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® that explored prior authorization decisions in cancer care by race and ethnicity for commercially insured patients.
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