(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc on Tuesday said it will test its Xalkori lung cancer drug with Merck & Co's experimental immunotherapy pembrolizumab, in hopes the combination will improve the outcomes for patients taking the approved Pfizer therapy. Xalkori, which has annual sales of $400 million and is also known by its chemical name crizotinib, was approved in 2011 for lung cancer patients who have a specific mutation in the so-called ALK gene, as determined by an approved diagnostic test. The mutation only occurs in a small percentage of patients with non small cell lung cancer, the most common form of lung cancer, but makes them good candidates for treatment with Xalkori. Pembrolizumab, by contrast, works by removing the brakes from the immune system, allowing it to detect and destroy cancer cells.
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