New York, Feb 28, 2026, 14:19 EST — The market’s session has ended.
- Merck finished the session at $123.82, up 3.8%.
- Merck has rolled out new late-stage cancer trial data for both Keytruda and Welireg, with the FDA expected to make its decision in June.
- The drugmaker pointed to job reductions at a Gardasil production facility, citing weaker vaccine demand.
Merck & Co shares kick off the week in focus, following Friday’s rally. Investors are parsing through a batch of weekend cancer trial updates and a newly set U.S. FDA review schedule.
The drugmaker ended regular trading at $123.82, climbing 3.79%. After hours, the stock barely moved.
Why it matters now: Investors want to see if Merck can squeeze more from Keytruda — its top seller — by stacking up fresh uses and combinations, especially with patent expirations looming later this decade.
Ongoing sluggish vaccine demand in China, coupled with changing U.S. immunization guidelines, has left the company leaning harder on fresh oncology data and upcoming regulatory milestones.
Merck reported Saturday that pairing Keytruda with Welireg (belzutifan) lowered the risk of disease recurrence or death by 28% compared with Keytruda and placebo in an adjuvant kidney cancer trial. Here, adjuvant refers to therapy given post-surgery—specifically, after nephrectomy or kidney removal. The FDA’s taken up Merck’s supplemental filings for priority review and has a target action date of June 19, 2026, according to the company.
Dr. Toni K. Choueiri from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute called the results “an important step forward,” according to the company. Merck’s Catherine Pietanza pointed to the data, emphasizing how the Keytruda-Welireg combo stands out in renal cell carcinoma.
Just the day before, Merck highlighted new late-stage bladder cancer results: Keytruda, combined with Padcev—an antibody-drug conjugate—showed a 47% drop in event-free survival events and a 35% reduction in death risk, both compared to standard chemo plus surgery for patients with cisplatin-eligible muscle-invasive disease. The trial, conducted with Pfizer and Astellas, is headed to regulators next, the companies said.
Merck didn’t just focus on genitourinary cancers this week. The drugmaker reported that adding Keytruda to paclitaxel—with or without bevacizumab—led to a significant boost in overall survival for patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. There’s also a positive opinion from the EU CHMP backing the regimen for a specific patient group.
The headlines weren’t all about courtroom victories. Citing a Reuters report, Merck plans to cut roughly 150 jobs at its North Carolina facility that produces the HPV vaccine Gardasil. The layoffs, set for May, come after Merck stopped shipping Gardasil to China last year and saw sales for the vaccine fall.
The fine print has its pitfalls. Merck’s kidney-cancer results hang on disease-free survival — that’s the stretch before the cancer comes back. Overall survival? Still under observation. Then there’s the issue of higher side-effect rates with combinations, a factor that could weigh on real-world adoption.
Come Monday, eyes will be on whether that weekend kidney-cancer news fuels Friday’s rally further, and if additional late-breaking conference updates keep the shares moving higher. The next fixed milestone: FDA’s June 19 deadline for the Keytruda-Welireg adjuvant RCC filings.
