Keytruda Continues to Be Major Growth Driver for Merck in 2018

In 1Q18, Merck’s (MRK) Keytruda reported global sales close to $1.5 billion, which is a year-over-year (or YoY) rise of around 151%. The rise was attributable to the highest number of new patient starts for Keytruda in the US as compared to other immunotherapy drugs such as Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMY) Opdivo and Roche Holdings’ (RHHBY) Tecentriq. The drug has established itself as a leading therapy for metastatic lung cancer in the US.