A U.S. senator is pressing pharmaceutical giant Merck over its patenting and pricing practices for the blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, escalating congressional scrutiny of industry strategies that can delay lower-cost rivals from reaching the market.

Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, said that Merck and other drug companies often file excessive patents to extend their monopolies and keep more affordable versions of their pricey drugs out of reach. In a letter to Merck CEO Robert Davis, the lawmaker asked the company to detail patent actions connected to both the Keytruda intravenous version, which has been on the market for over a decade, and its new injectable version of the drug, which launched last year.

“I continue to have serious concerns about how Merck’s anti-competitive practices have boosted profits at the expense of patients,” Hassan wrote in her letter, sent this week. She added she has noted in previous years how “these kinds of patent gimmicks have allowed Merck to delay other companies from selling lower cost versions of this medication, all while raising the price of Keytruda in the U.S. year after year.”

Hassan cited a finding from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ recent Cancer Calculus investigation, which showed that Merck’s new injectable version of Keytruda “could help Merck generate billions of dollars and delay competition into the 2030s.”

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/

OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/lowering-doses-of-cancer-drugs-could-slash-global-health-spending-by-30b-new-research-shows/

FOLLOW UP Lowering doses of cancer drugs could slash global health spending by $30B, new research shows Jun 11, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/keytruda-evergreening-patents-merck/

INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

Recommended reading OVERVIEW How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide Apr 13, 2026 FOLLOW UP Lowering doses of cancer drugs could slash global health spending by $30B, new research shows Jun 11, 2026 INTERACTIVE How Merck uses patents to help maintain Keytruda’s exorbitant price Apr 13, 2026

A businessman accused of ordering the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has gone on trial in the Maltese capital, Valletta.

Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a property empire, was arrested in 2019 by Malta’s armed forces on a yacht in connection with the car-bomb murder.

After years of delays due to legal challenges, he faces complicity and criminal association charges and is the last of seven men to face trial over the assassination that rocked the country. Fenech denies the charges.

The 2017 murder provoked outrage from journalists, civil society groups and governments around the world. Malta’s attorney general, Victor Buttigieg, has called for a life sentence for the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years for the criminal association charge.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s husband, three sons and two sisters were in court for the commencement of the trial. Her son Matthew Caruana Galizia worked for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists from 2014 to 2018.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/it-is-still-dangerous-to-be-a-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizias-son-reflects-on-her-life-and-legacy/

PRESS FREEDOM ‘It is still dangerous to be a journalist’: Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son reflects on her life and legacy Jan 12, 2024

https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2022/10/two-brothers-convicted-of-murdering-daphne-caruana-galizia-sentenced-to-40-years-in-prison/

PRESS FREEDOM Two brothers convicted of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, sentenced to 40 years in prison Oct 16, 2022

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/malta-responsible-for-assassination-of-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia-inquiry-finds/

PRESS FREEDOM Malta responsible for assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, inquiry finds Jul 30, 2021

Recommended reading PRESS FREEDOM ‘It is still dangerous to be a journalist’: Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son reflects on her life and legacy Jan 12, 2024 PRESS FREEDOM Two brothers convicted of murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia, sentenced to 40 years in prison Oct 16, 2022 PRESS FREEDOM Malta responsible for assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, inquiry finds Jul 30, 2021