For Merck, Lynparza fails to improve on Keytruda in first-line lung cancer

Merck has called it quits on another attempt to enhance its powerful PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Adding AstraZeneca-partnered Lynparza to Keytruda as a maintenance treatment didn’t improve the outcomes for patients with newly diagnosed metastatic squamous NSCLC, Merck said Thursday.