Merck said on Tuesday a study showed that its injectable version of cancer drug Keytruda was not inferior to the currently approved intravenous formulation of its treatment, likely making it even more accessible and easier to administer.
The U.S. pharmaceutical giant was testing the injectable version of the world’s biggest-selling drug in a late-stage trial of patients with a type of lung cancer.
The injectable version could potentially protect the drug, which had sales of about $25 billion last year, from competition that is expected when the IV version loses patent protection later in the decade.
Merck plans to discuss the results with regulators globally as soon as possible, said Marjorie Green, head of oncology, global clinical development at the company’s research unit.
Keytruda was injected under the skin in about 2-3 minutes in the trial, compared with the current delivery method in which patients are put on an intravenous drip for about 30 minutes in a health office once every three or six weeks.
Despite the short time of administration, the injectable version was also non-inferior in terms of exposure in the patients’ bodies as well as its concentration immediately before the next dose was administered, Merck said.
