Merck
& Co. said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration awarded
breakthrough therapy status to its cancer therapy lambrolizumab, which
could speed up development of the drug.
Merck
said the drug received breakthrough status as a treatment for advanced
melanoma. Merck recently started a mid-stage clinical trial of
lambrolizumab and said it is also studying the drug as a treatment for
other types of cancer. The company said the drug is designed to use the
immune system to fight cancer.
The
FDA created the breakthrough therapy program in 2012 as a way to speed
up the approval process for drugs that could be significant improvements
in the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases from what's
currently on the market.
Shares of Merck lost 50 cents to $48.13 in afternoon trading.
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