Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, +0.72 percent saw its stock rise 0.7 percent in Friday trade, a day after the firm announced that it would voluntarily withdraw its expedited approval for Keytruda as a third-line treatment for select patients with gastric cancer in the next six months. Merck’s best-selling medicine, Keytruda, generated $14.4 billion in sales in 2020. The FDA’s decision to exclude the drug from this indication is part of a larger attempt to determine whether some cancer drugs that were approved based on confirmatory post-market clinical trials should remain on the market. According to Mizuho Americas analysts, the withdrawal is unlikely to have a significant impact on the company’s stock. Merck’s stock has gained 0.7 percent this year, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.65 percent has up 14.4 percent./n
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