Merck is expecting a big weekend

ASCO is upon us again, and it may be a big one for Merck.

As STAT’s Matthew Herper reports, the drug maker is set to release new data on five-year survival with Keytruda, its best-selling cancer treatment. Beyond that, we’ll also get a glimpse of data for Keytruda in gastroesophageal junction tumors, a type of stomach cancer, kidney cancer, and bladder cancer. And there will be new data about Lynparza, which Merck sells with AstraZeneca.

Keytruda has had its share of disappointments as a combination therapy, including the Incyte blowup in April. But Merck’s R&D chief, Roger Perlmutter, says it’s impossible to deny that the drug is helping some patients live longer.

“It sort of takes your breath away,” he said.

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