Why Merck (MRK) Is Using KEYTRUDA and WELIREG to Deepen Its Kidney Cancer Franchise

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is one of Kevin O’Leary’s top stock picks for 2026 through the O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF. The stock made up 2.91% of the ETF as of June 17, 2026. On June 12, 2026, Merck said the US FDA approved KEYTRUDA and the easier-to-administer KEYTRUDA QLEX, each with WELIREG, for certain kidney cancer patients who have undergone surgery and still face a higher risk of the cancer returning.

For investors, the approval gives Merck another approved use around KEYTRUDA, its flagship cancer drug, while also building WELIREG beyond later-stage treatment. The decision was supported by a late-stage trial of 1,841 patients. In other terms, patients receiving WELIREG with KEYTRUDA were less likely to see their cancer come back, spread, or lead to death than patients receiving KEYTRUDA with a placebo. Merck said the combination reduced that risk by 28%, with 81% of patients alive without disease recurrence at 24 months, compared with 74% in the control group.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a global pharmaceutical company known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. The company develops medicines and vaccines across oncology, infectious diseases, cardiometabolic disease, immunology, neuroscience, and animal health.

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