Vol. 4 No. 11 (2024): November
Reimbursement Reviews

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda)

Published November 8, 2024

Key Messages

  • Reimbursement reviews are comprehensive assessments of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, as well as patient and clinician perspectives, of a drug or drug class.
  • The assessments inform nonbinding recommendations that help guide the reimbursement decisions of Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments, with the exception of Quebec.
  • This review assesses pembrolizumab (Keytruda), 100 mg/4 mL vial, solution for infusion.
  • Indication: Pembrolizumab, in combination with trastuzumab, fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy, is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, whose tumours express PD-L1 (combined positive score [CPS] ≥ 1), as determined by a validated test.