MedPath

Pembrolizumab

Generic Name
Pembrolizumab
Brand Names
Keytruda
Drug Type
Biotech
CAS Number
1374853-91-4
Unique Ingredient Identifier
DPT0O3T46P
Background

Pembrolizumab is a highly selective IgG4-kappa humanized monoclonal antibody against PD-1 receptors. It was generated by grafting the variable sequences of a very high-affinity mouse antihuman PD-1 antibody onto a human IgG4-kappa isotype containing a stabilizing S228P Fc mutation. It contains 32 cysteine residues and the complete folded molecule includes 4 disulfide linkages as interchain bonds and 23 interchain bonds. It was developed by Merck & Co and first approved for the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma by the FDA on September 4, 2014, becoming the first approved therapy against PD-1. In the time since its initial approval, pembrolizumab has been granted approval in the treatment of a wide variety of cancers.

Indication

Pembrolizumab is indicated for the following conditions:

For all approved adult indications, pembrolizumab may be used for an additional 6 weeks at 400mg weekly.

Associated Conditions
Advanced Endometrial Cancer, Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Locally Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma (UC), Metastatic Adenocarcinoma of the Gastroesophageal Junction, Metastatic Cervical Cancer, Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma, Metastatic Melanoma, Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma ( mRCC), Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (HNSCC), Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancers, Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma (UC), Metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, Metastic Renal Cell Carcinoma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer, Stage II, Persistent Cervical Cancer, Recurrent Cervical Cancer, Refractory Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell Cell Lymphoma, Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), Resectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, Stage IB Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, Stage IIB Melanoma, Stage IIC Melanoma, Stage III Melanoma, Stage IIIA Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, Unresectable Melanoma, Advanced Microsatellite Instability High Endometrial Carcinoma, Advanced Mismatch Repair-deficient (dMMR) Endometrial Carcinoma, High risk, early Triple Negative Breast Cancer, High risk, in situ Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) Refractory to BCG, Locally advanced Adenocarcinomas of the Gastroesophageal Junction, Locally advanced Esophageal Carcinoma, Locally advanced Urothelial Carcinoma, Metastatic HER2-positive Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach, Metastatic HER2-positive Adenocarcinomas of the Gastroesophageal Junction, Metastatic High Tumor Mutation Burden Solid Tumors, Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC), Metastatic Microsatellite Instability High Colorectal Cancer, Metastatic Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) Solid Tumors, Metastatic Mismatch Repair Deficient Colorectal Cancer, Metastatic Mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors, Recurrent Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN), Recurrent, locally advanced Adenocarcinomas of the Gastroesophageal Junction, Recurrent, locally advanced Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Refractory Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Relapsed Classical Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Stage 3 Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC), Unresectable High Tumor Mutation Burden Solid Tumors, Unresectable Microsatellite Instability High Colorectal Cancer, Unresectable Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) Solid Tumors, Unresectable Mismatch Repair Deficient Colorectal Cancer, Unresectable Mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors, Unresectable, locally advanced HER2-positive Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach, Unresectable, locally advanced HER2-positive Adenocarcinomas of the Gastroesophageal Junction, Unresectable, locally recurrent Triple Negative Breast Cancer, Unresectable, recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN)

Physician/Patient Choice of Either High-Dose Recombinant Interferon Alfa-2B or Ipilimumab, Versus Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Stage III-IV High Risk Melanoma That Has Been Removed by Surgery

Phase 3
Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Clinical Stage IV Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v8
Metastatic Non-Cutaneous Melanoma
Recurrent Cutaneous Melanoma
Recurrent Mucosal Melanoma
Clinical Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v8
Metastatic Cutaneous Melanoma
Metastatic Mucosal Melanoma
Recurrent Non-Cutaneous Melanoma
Non-Cutaneous Melanoma
Interventions
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Procedure: Computed Tomography
Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Procedure: Positron Emission Tomography
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
First Posted Date
2015-07-23
Last Posted Date
2025-05-22
Lead Sponsor
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Target Recruit Count
1301
Registration Number
NCT02506153
Locations
🇺🇸

Kaiser Permanente-Irvine, Irvine, California, United States

🇺🇸

University of Alabama at Birmingham Cancer Center, Birmingham, Alabama, United States

🇺🇸

Cancer Center at Saint Joseph's, Phoenix, Arizona, United States

and more 575 locations

Study of Intratumoral G100 With Or Without Pembrolizumab or Rituximab In Participants With Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (MK-3475-174/IMDZ-G142)

Phase 1
Terminated
Conditions
Follicular Low Grade Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Interventions
First Posted Date
2015-07-17
Last Posted Date
2020-09-09
Lead Sponsor
Immune Design, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. (Rahway, New Jersey USA)
Target Recruit Count
52
Registration Number
NCT02501473

A Trial of Lenvatinib (E7080) Plus Pembrolizumab in Participants With Selected Solid Tumors

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Tumors
Interventions
First Posted Date
2015-07-17
Last Posted Date
2023-07-20
Lead Sponsor
Eisai Inc.
Target Recruit Count
357
Registration Number
NCT02501096
Locations
🇺🇸

The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States

🇺🇸

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

🇺🇸

Mass General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

and more 49 locations

Testing the PD-1 Inhibitor Pembrolizumab as Maintenance Therapy After Initial Chemotherapy in Metastatic Bladder Cancer

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Bladder Cancer
Urothelial Carcinoma
Interventions
Other: Placebo
First Posted Date
2015-07-16
Last Posted Date
2022-09-30
Lead Sponsor
Matthew Galsky
Target Recruit Count
108
Registration Number
NCT02500121
Locations
🇺🇸

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

🇺🇸

The John Theuer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸

Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, United States

and more 25 locations

Pembrolizumab in Subjects With Incurable Platinum-Refractory Germ Cell Tumors

Phase 2
Terminated
Conditions
Germ Cell Neoplasms
Testicular Neoplasms
Non Seminomatous Germ Cell Tumors
Mediastinal Neoplasms
Genital Neoplasms, Male
Genital Neoplasms, Female
Ovarian Neoplasms
Interventions
First Posted Date
2015-07-16
Last Posted Date
2022-07-11
Lead Sponsor
Nasser Hanna, M.D.
Target Recruit Count
12
Registration Number
NCT02499952
Locations
🇺🇸

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

🇺🇸

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Pembrolizumab, Standard Chemotherapy, Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, and High- or Low-Dose Aldesleukin in Treating Patients With Metastatic Melanoma

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Stage IIIC Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7
Metastatic Melanoma
Stage IV Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v6 and v7
Stage IIIB Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7
Interventions
Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis
Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Biological: Therapeutic Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes
First Posted Date
2015-07-16
Last Posted Date
2025-01-15
Lead Sponsor
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Target Recruit Count
18
Registration Number
NCT02500576
Locations
🇺🇸

M D Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States

Trial of pIL-12/MK-3475 in Metastatic Melanoma

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Melanoma
Interventions
First Posted Date
2015-07-09
Last Posted Date
2021-01-06
Lead Sponsor
University of California, San Francisco
Target Recruit Count
24
Registration Number
NCT02493361
Locations
🇺🇸

University of San Francisco, California, San Francisco, California, United States

🇺🇸

Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Pembrolizumab After SBRT Versus Pembrolizumab Alone in Advanced NSCLC

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Interventions
Radiation: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
First Posted Date
2015-07-08
Last Posted Date
2020-08-17
Lead Sponsor
The Netherlands Cancer Institute
Target Recruit Count
92
Registration Number
NCT02492568
Locations
🇳🇱

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (NKI-AVL), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

A Study of BBI503 in Combination With Selected Anti-Cancer Therapeutics in Adult Patients With Advanced Cancer

First Posted Date
2015-06-26
Last Posted Date
2023-11-14
Lead Sponsor
Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.
Target Recruit Count
165
Registration Number
NCT02483247
Locations
🇺🇸

Indiana University Health Goshen, Goshen, Indiana, United States

🇺🇸

Louisiana State Univesity, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

🇨🇦

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

and more 5 locations

A Study of BBI608 Administered in Combination With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Adult Patients With Advanced Cancers

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Cancer
Interventions
First Posted Date
2015-06-10
Last Posted Date
2023-11-14
Lead Sponsor
Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.
Target Recruit Count
104
Registration Number
NCT02467361
Locations
🇺🇸

Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

🇺🇸

Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

🇺🇸

University of Colorado Cancer Center, Denver, Colorado, United States

and more 5 locations
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