FDA Approves Keytruda plus Lenvima combination treatment for atients with certain types of endometrial carcinoma.

Merck and Eisai announced that the FDA approved the combination of Keytruda, Merck�s anti-PD-1 therapy, plus Lenvima, the orally available kinase inhibitor discovered by Eisai, for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR), who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy and are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. This marks the first U.S. approval for the combination of Keytruda plus Lenvima and the first time an anti-PD-1 therapy is approved in combination with a kinase inhibitor for advanced endometrial carcinoma in the U.S.

Following submission on 17 June , this is an accelerated approval reviewed under the FDA�s Real-Time Oncology Review (RTOR) pilot program, which aims to improve the efficiency of the review process for applications to ensure that treatments are available to patients as early as possible. This approval is based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trial. According to the FDA, this review was conducted under Project Orbis, an initiative of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence. Project Orbis provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology drugs among its international partners. Under this project, the FDA, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Health Canada collaboratively reviewed applications for two oncology drugs, allowing for simultaneous decisions in all three countries.