Merck’s Keytruda Dominance Isn’t at Risk From New Cancer Rivals

(Bloomberg) -- Merck & Co.’s top-selling cancer drug Keytruda is still the talk of Wall Street despite positive results from Roche Holding Ag’s Tecentriq and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s combination therapy over the weekend.

The latest lung cancer studies “will likely lead to two new, but fairly weak, competitors” for Keytruda, Cowen analyst Steven Scala wrote in a note to clients. “Keytruda is deeply entrenched” in doctors’ treatment strategies, Scala said. Merck rose as much as 2.6%, its biggest gain in two months, and was among Monday’s top performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Bristol-Myers’s drug cocktail won praise from some analysts for the benefits it showed in a very particular group of lung cancer patients, but it failed to demonstrate broader effectiveness. Roche’s Tecentriq improved survival in a late-stage study with results that Jefferies analysts said were comparable to those seen previously with Keytruda.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bailey Lipschultz in New York at blipschultz@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net

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