Merck, Daiichi pull US application for 'guided missile' drug for lung cancer
May 29 (Reuters) - Merck (MRK.N), opens new tab and Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), opens new tab have withdrawn their U.S. application for an experimental lung cancer treatment after it failed to prolong patients' lives in a late-stage study, the companies said on Thursday.
The drug, patritumab deruxtecan, belongs to a lucrative class of targeted cancer therapies that work like "guided missiles" by killing tumor cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed.
The companies sought approval for the drug to treat non-small cell lung cancer in patients who have failed two or more prior lines of therapy and who had a specific gene mutation leading to abnormal cell growth.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had declined to approve the therapy last year due to issues with a third-party manufacturing facility.
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