Recently, several multinational corporations (MNCs) released their financial reports for Q1 2025. Amid mounting pressures and a rapidly evolving market landscape, their performances continue to diverge. Nevertheless, the oncology field remains a cornerstone business for most MNCs. So, how did MNCs fare in the oncology field during Q1 of this year?
Merck
In Q1 2025, Merck reported global sales of USD 15.5 billion, representing a 2% year-over-year decline. Revenue from its pharmaceutical business reached USD 13.638 billion - accounting for 88% of total sales - down 3% compared with the same period last year. This decline was primarily driven by weaker performance in its vaccine and antiviral products. Despite fluctuations in performance, its revenue from the oncology field continued to grow, led by the strong performance of its flagship PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
Keytruda generated USD 7.205 billion in sales during Q1, with a YoY increase of 4% and contributed 53% of the total pharmaceutical business revenue. In the United States market, the performance growth of Keytruda was largely driven by expanded use in adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as its indication for advanced urothelial carcinoma. Outside the United States, Keytruda's growth was supported by increasing demand in adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and kidney cancer, as well as the demand for metastatic indications.
Since 2021, early-stage tumor indications in adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy have emerged as a new battleground for PD-1 inhibitors. In clinical studies on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), Keytruda has delivered impressive results in both adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy. Results from the KEYNOTE-522 study demonstrated that, with a median follow-up of 39.1 months, Keytruda plus chemotherapy showed a significant improvement in event-free survival (EFS) compared with chemotherapy alone, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.63 (95% CI: 0.48-0.82; P=0.00031).
Based on the favorable results of this study, the FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA), and National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) have approved pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy for neoadjuvant therapy followed by adjuvant treatment in patients with high-risk early-stage TNBC.
In the field of NSCLC, Keytruda has also demonstrated strong clinical efficacy. According to data from the Phase III KEYNOTE-091 test, among patients who had undergone surgical resection followed by platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy, Keytruda reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death by 27% compared with the placebo group. For the primary endpoint of disease-free survival (DFS), the median DFS was 58.7 months in the Keytruda group, compared with just 23.8 months in the placebo group.
Merck has projected that by 2028, sales from Keytruda's adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy indications could make up 30% of the total, which highlights the substantial potential of the early-stage cancer treatment field.
Among other antitumor drugs, Merck's oral hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2α) inhibitor Welireg (belzutifan) was approved by the EU on February 19 this year for the treatment of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease-associated tumors. It is the first HIF-2α inhibitor approved for marketing and had previously been approved in multiple countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. In Q1, Welireg generated USD 137 million in sales, with a YoY increase of 62%.
Additionally, Merck reported revenues of USD 321 million from Lynparza (olaparib), a PARP inhibitor co-developed with AstraZeneca; USD 258 million from Lenvima (lenvatinib), in collaboration with Eisai; and USD 119 million from Reblozyl (luspatercept), developed in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).
In terms of pipeline progress, the perioperative treatment with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) combination therapy for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has received FDA Priority Review designation, with a PDUFA date set for J...
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