Merck To Present First-Time Results From Three Pivotal Clinical Trials At ESMO Congress; Data Demonstrate Improvements In Recurrence-Free Survival And Distant Metastasis-Free Survival Versus KEYTRUDA Alone In Patients With Completely Resected Stage IIB-IV Melanoma

Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today announced that first-time results from three pivotal clinical trials will be presented during late-breaking Presidential Symposia at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2026 in Madrid, Spain from Oct. 23-27. Additionally, more than 90 additional abstracts across more than 20 tumor types from the company’s pipeline and portfolio will be presented throughout the meeting.

"New data at ESMO, including three Presidential Symposia from three pivotal trials, reflect the strength and depth of Merck’s industry-leading oncology portfolio and pipeline," said Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology global clinical development, Merck Research Laboratories. "We are proud to share Phase 3 data for the first time from intismeran and sac-TMT, alongside new research from our oncology portfolio, reflecting our commitment to advancing research across a range of cancer types."

Key data from Merck’s pipeline and portfolio to be presented:

First presentation of data from the pivotal Phase 3 INTerpath-001 trial evaluating intismeran autogene (intismeran; V940/mRNA-4157), a novel investigational mRNA-based individualized neoantigen therapy, in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as adjuvant treatment for patients with completely resected stage IIB-IV melanoma, which will be featured in an ESMO Presidential Symposium (Presentation #LBA1, Proffered paper session: Presidential Symposium I).1
First presentation of data from the pivotal Phase 3 TroFuse-005 trial evaluating sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT), an investigational trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2)-directed antibody-drug conjugate, for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer who have progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy and a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, which will be featured in an ESMO Presidential Symposium (Presentation #LBA11, Proffered paper session: Presidential Symposium III).2,3
First presentation of data from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-C93 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA monotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer who had not previously received systemic chemotherapy or who experienced recurrence after receiving prior adjuvant therapy, which will be featured in an ESMO Presidential Symposium (Presentation #LBA12, Proffered paper session: Presidential Symposium III).3
Data from Phase 3 OptiTROP studies evaluating sac-TMT in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including results from the OptiTROP-Lung06 study (Presentation #LBA66) in first-line PD-L1-negative advanced non-squamous NSCLC and final overall survival data from the OptiTROP-Lung04 study (Presentation #LBA67) in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated NSCLC following progression on EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) (Proffered paper session 1: NSCLC, metastatic).4
Final analysis results from the Phase 3 LITESPARK-011 study evaluating WELIREG® (belzutifan), Merck’s first-in-class, oral hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2α) inhibitor, in combination with LENVIMA® (lenvatinib), an orally available multiple receptor TKI discovered by Eisai, for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma with a clear cell component following a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor (Presentation #3587O, Proffered paper session 2: Genitourinary tumours, renal and urothelial).5
Merck investor event

Merck will hold an Oncology Investor Event to coincide with the ESMO 2026 Congress on Monday, October 26, 7:30 p.m. CET/2:30 p.m. ET, during which senior management will provide an update on the company’s oncology strategy and program. The event will take place in Madrid, Spain, and will be accessible via webcast. Investors, analysts, members of the media and the general public are invited to listen to a webcast of the presentation via this weblink. All participants may join the call by dialing (800) 369-2154 (U.S. and Canada Toll-Free) or (517) 308-9422 and using the access code 8984239.