Healthcare

U.S. FDA Approves PADCEV® plus Keytruda® as Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Regardless of Cisplatin Eligibility

NEW YORK & TOKYO, July 10, 2026--Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PADCEV® (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv), a Nectin-4 directed antibody-drug conjugate, plus the PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) or Keytruda QLEX™ (pembrolizumab and berahyaluronidase alfa-pmph) as neoadjuvant and adjuvant (before and after surgery) treatment for adult patients w

Pfizer, Inc.July 10, 202628 min read
U.S. FDA Approves PADCEV® plus Keytruda® as Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Regardless of Cisplatin Eligibility

About this update from Pfizer, Inc.

NEW YORK & TOKYO, July 10, 2026 --( BUSINESS WIRE )--Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PADCEV® (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv), a Nectin-4 directed antibody-drug conjugate, plus the PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) or Keytruda QLEX™ (pembrolizumab and berahyaluronidase alfa-pmph) as neoadjuvant and adjuvant (before and after surgery) treatment for adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer regardless of cisplatin eligibilityi. This now marks the first platinum-free regimen approved for adult patients with MIBC, regardless of cisplatin eligibility. The approval was based on results from the pivotal Phase 3 EV-304 clinical trial (also known as KEYNOTE-B15), which were presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU). This expanded indication builds on the November 2025 U.S. FDA approval of the combination for use as neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment in cisplatin-ineligible adult patients with MIBC, based on results from the EV-303 Phase 3 clinical trial (also known as KEYNOTE-905) that were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Christopher Hoimes, DO, Director of the Bladder Cancer Program and Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke Cancer Institute, and an EV-304 Principal Investigator "For muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a comprehensive treatment approach is important; the neoadjuvant phase can help shrink the tumor and target undetectable cancer cells early before surgery, while the adjuvant phase can be critical in eliminating residual, undetectable cancer cells following surgery. These data from EV-304 and this approval show that by delivering this regimen across both the neoadjuvant and adjuvant phases, without platinum-based chemotherapy, we can significantly reduce the risk of recurrence and improve overall survival — offering a potential new standard of care for adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer." Aamir Malik, Executive Vice President, Chief U.S. Commercial Officer, Pfizer "Today's approval marks a historic turning point for the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, providing adult patients with the first approved platinum-free combination regimen shown to significantly improve survival over the current standard of care – regardless of cisplatin-eligibility. PADCEV plus pembrolizumab has established itself as the standard of care for first line therapy of advanced stages of bladder cancer, and we're thrilled to be able to provide this community a much-needed new treatment option in an earlier, potentially curative-intent setting."

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bladder cancerbladder canceradverse reactionsadjuvant treatmentKeytrudapembrolizumabadult patientsMIBCneoadjuvant

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