Pembrolizumab now available in UK for treatment of adults with advanced melanoma
London, UK, 07 September 2015: MRC Technology (MRCT), an independent medical research charity, is pleased to highlight that Pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy treatment for advanced melanoma (skin cancer), was approved by “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)” in final draft guidance.
Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is considered a next generation drug in cancer care, stimulating the body’s immune system to fight the disease. The therapeutic is one of a new generation of PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) therapies that block the biological pathways cancers use to disguise themselves from the immune system. It acts by making the cancer cell ‘visible’ to the immune system and the cell can thus be destroyed by the body’s natural defence mechanisms. UK based scientists at MRCT, with extensive expertise in antibody engineering techniques, first advanced the antibody-based treatment and carried out humanization, an essential step in the success of the therapeutic.
Further information: NICE news release