The purpose of this study is to evaluate pembrolizumab (MK-3475) subcutaneous (SC) administration as the first-line therapy in the treatment of metastatic squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC by assessing the pharmacokinetics (PK), safety, and efficacy of pembrolizumab SC injection in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy. The primary hypothesis of the study is Pembrolizumab SC is noninferior to pembrolizumab intravenous (IV) for Cycle 1 Area Under Curve (AUC) and Cycle 6 minimal concentration (Ctrough) at steady state. Participants who discontinue study treatment after receiving the first course of 35 administrations of pembrolizumab (approximately up to 2 years) for reasons other than disease progression or intolerability, may be eligible for a second course of pembrolizumab for up to approximately 1 additional year if they have experienced radiographic disease progression per RECIST 1.1 as assessed by BICR after stopping first course treatment.
Phase 3 trials are pivotal studies with large patient populations (hundreds to thousands) designed to prove efficacy and safety for FDA submission. A successful Phase 3 readout is typically the last major hurdle before a New Drug Application (NDA) or BLA filing.
Enrollment is complete. The trial is in its follow-up or data collection phase — a readout may occur on or near the primary completion date.
Merck & Co (MRK) is the sponsoring company for this trial. BiotechSign currently grades this company F (35/100) based on composite catalyst signals across its full pipeline. This trial is one data point in that overall catalyst picture.