WASHINGTON STATION, N.J. – Merck & Co. said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration awarded breakthrough therapy status to its cancer therapy lambrolizumab, which could speed up development of the drug.
Merck said the drug received breakthrough status as a treatment for advanced melanoma. Merck recently started a mid-stage clinical trial of lambrolizumab and said it is also studying the drug as a treatment for other types of cancer. The company said the drug is designed to use the immune system to fight cancer.
The FDA created the breakthrough therapy program in 2012 as a way to speed up the approval process for drugs that could be significant improvements in the treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases from what's currently on the market.
Shares of Merck lost 50 cents to $48.13 in afternoon trading.
But Liverpool have won their last three matches in all competitions, the most recent victory coming in the 4-0 triumph at Wigan.
That has offered encouragement to Denmark international Agger, who is convinced they can enjoy a successful end to a frustrating campaign.
"We are finally starting to show some consistency and that's what we need," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"It's vital we keep playing this way and try to get as high as possible in the league.
"What is the target for us now? I think we've all agreed that we only look at one game at a time. Our focus now is on Tottenham.
"But only having one game each week for the rest of the season should help us. When you have fewer games it's easier to recover between matches and that's important.
"We should be finishing this season strongly. There's still a lot to play for."
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick in the win over Wigan to take his tally for the season to 28 goals in all competitions and with goalkeeper Pepe Reina also in fine form, Agger is convinced they are a force to be reckoned with at both ends of the field
"It difficult to compare strikers but Luis is certainly up there with anyone in the world," added Agger.
"He's in great form at the moment and it's great to see. But Pepe was also world class against Wigan and deserved a lot of credit from that game
"We know we have someone we can really rely on back there - both with his feet and his hands. We saw the best of him in that game."
