Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) on Monday announced results from two late-stage clinical studies evaluating treatments for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2026.
The drugmaker reported statistically significant survival improvements for both its investigational antibody-drug conjugate, sacituzumab tirumotecan, and its established immunotherapy, Keytruda.
TroFuse-005 Delivers Survival Gains In Endometrial Cancer
In the Phase 3 TroFuse-005 study, developed alongside Kelun-Biotech, sacituzumab tirumotecan met its dual primary endpoints in patients previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
The trial marks the first global Phase 3 study for an antibody-drug conjugate to demonstrate statistically significant survival gains over chemotherapy in this population.
Sacituzumab tirumotecan reduced the risk of death by 32% compared to physician’s choice chemotherapy, extending median overall survival to 19.0 months versus 12.1 months.
It also cut the risk of disease progression or death by 41%, delivering a median progression-free survival of 7.2 months compared to 3.9 months.
In addition, the therapy achieved an objective response rate of 35.1%, doubling the chemotherapy arm’s 17.3%.
The safety profile remained consistent with earlier evaluations without new safety signals.
Following the TroFuse-005 findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted a Biologics License Application under priority review, with a decision date of June 15, 2027.
KEYNOTE-C93 Demonstrates Keytruda Monotherapy Efficacy
Simultaneously, Merck highlighted results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-C93 trial assessing Keytruda monotherapy in patients with mismatch repair deficient endometrial cancer. Keytruda lowered the risk of disease progression or death by 43% compared to platinum doublet chemotherapy.
Patients receiving Keytruda reached a median progression-free survival of 38.2 months versus 8.4 months for chemotherapy recipients.
Keytruda also demonstrated a favorable overall survival trend, recording a 36-month survival rate of 70.7% compared to 62.0% for chemotherapy.
Complete response rates reached 33.8% for Keytruda versus 26.2% for chemotherapy, while researchers identified no new safety concerns.
MRK Price Action: Merck & Co shares were down 2.37% at $141.82 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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