Merck–Kelun ADC shows substantial progression-free survival benefit in PD-L1-negative NSCLC

At ESMO 2026, Merck and Kelun reported results from the phase 3 OptiTROP-Lung06 trial of sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT, also known as SKB264/MK-2870), a TROP2-directed antibody–drug conjugate, combined with pembrolizumab (Keytruda).

In previously untreated, advanced non-squamous NSCLC with PD-L1 expression below 1%, the combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 51% versus pembrolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy (hazard ratio 0.49; 95% CI 0.36–0.65).

Median progression-free survival was 15.0 months with sac-TMT plus pembrolizumab, compared with 5.7 months in the chemotherapy-containing control group.

Overall-survival data were still immature:
the report described a favorable trend, but it is too early to conclude that the treatment improves survival.

The findings were presented at ESMO and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study involved 455 patients in China, so further evidence will matter in assessing how broadly the results apply.