FDA nod in rare disease is first fruit from Merck’s Peloton takeout

FDA’s approval of Merck’s Welireg belzutifan to treat von Hippel-Landau disease represents the first marketing authorization of a therapy the pharma obtained via its $1 billion-plus takeout of Peloton in May 2019.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) sought approval of the first-in-class HIF2A inhibitor initially in a rare disease, although it’s also conducting a Phase III program studying Welireg in a broader population to treat renal cell carcinoma (RCC)...