Merck melanoma drug wins "breakthrough" designation

(Reuters) – U.S. regulators have granted Merck & Co’s experimental treatment for advanced melanoma a “breakthrough therapy” designation, which could speed development and regulatory review of the product. The medicine, whose chemical name is lambrolizumab, is also being tested against other forms of cancer. It belongs to a promising class of therapies that harness the body’s immune system to find and attack cancer cells. It targets a protein called PD-1, or Programmed Death receptor. …