Updates

** Shares of drugmaker Merck MRK.N gains 2.59% to $123.91 premarket

** Partner Kelun-Biotech on Tuesday said a late-stage study of its experimental cancer drug sac-TMT in combination with Merck's Keytruda met the main goal in first-line advanced lung cancer patients whose tumors lacked PD-L1 expression

** Kelun says the combination helped patients live longer without their disease worsening versus Keytruda plus chemotherapy and showed a positive trend toward overall survival

** The study is the first late-stage trial of an antibody-drug conjugate and immunotherapy combination to meet its main goal in this first-line lung cancer setting, according to Kelun

** The data support the potential for sac-TMT plus Keytruda to challenge current standard-of-care regimens across a broader first-line lung cancer population - Leerink Partners analyst Akash Tewari

** Separately, MRK on Wednesday said its cancer drug Keytruda met the main goal in a late-stage study in advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer

** As of last close, stock up ~15% YTD