Natera has unveiled data that shows the efficacy of its molecular residual disease (MRD) test in detecting Merkel cell carcinoma, a type of aggressive skin cancer.

The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, demonstrated that the test – named Signatera – had a sensitivity of around 95%. This measures how well a test can identify tumour cells at the time of enrollment.

Sometimes, the second time is the charm. After a 2021 complete response letter from the FDA for approval in a different indication, the agency has now green-lit Incyte’s intravenous drug, Zynyz. The drug got the go-ahead through the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway for metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).

Merck’s latest Keytruda approval isn’t necessarily a huge one for the New Jersey drugmaker when it comes to sales. But it’s a big deal for Pfizer and Merck KGaA, maker of rival drug Bavencio.

Wednesday, the FDA green-lighted Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster in rare skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma, an area where Bavencio had previously held immuno-oncology’s only approval.

Merck is getting ready to take on Pfizer and Merck KGaA’s Bavencio in a rare form of skin cancer, and the FDA just sped up the showdown.

NeoImmuneTech (NIT), an immunotherapy drug development company focused on advanced cancer treatments, and its parent company Genexine, have entered into an agreement with Roche to enable studies of a combination treatment in three advanced high-risk skin cancer types: melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.