Tag Archives: mrk

Sigma-Aldrich Hits High On Sale To Germany’s Merck

Shares of Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL), a major provider of chemicals and other products for the life-science industry, jumped more than 34% to an all-time high near 138 in the stock market today after German drugmaker Merck KGaA announced it’s buying the company for $17 billion in cash. Merck, which does business in the U.S. as EMD Millipore to avoid confusion with its long-separated offspring Merck (MRK), said the buyout represents a “quantum leap” in

Merck PD-1 Inhibitor Approved For Skin Cancer

Merck’s (MRK) pembrolizumab won FDA approval for melanoma Thursday afternoon, making it the first drug in the much-anticipated PD-1 inhibitor class to hit the U.S. market. Pembrolizumab, now branded Keytruda, was approved before the normal three phases of clinical trials were finished, due to its “breakthrough therapy” designation. It’s a monoclonal antibody that attacks the mechanism that lets cancer cells fool the immune system into thinking

Merck, Pfizer Combining Drugs In Lung Cancer Study

Big pharma Merck (MRK) will study its hot new immunotherapy drug candidate in combination with rival Pfizer’s currently approved Xalkori to treat metastatic lung cancer, the two firms announced Tuesday. The trial of pembrolizumab and Xalkori, expected to start next year, is “just one example of the willingness of sponsors to work together in an effort to accelerate progress against some of the most difficult-to-treat cancers,” said Pfizer Chief