Bristol Myer Squibb advances cancer immunotherapy in Europe – The Science Board

Source: Bristol Myer Squibb advances cancer immunotherapy in Europe – The Science Board

Nivolumab is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor designed to use the body’s own immune system to help restore antitumor immune responses. In this instance, Bristol Myer Squibb is using the drug for the treatment of adults with unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after prior fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based combination chemotherapy.

In terms of next steps, now the European Commission (EC) will decide whether to approve the medicine. If approved, nivolumab will be the first immunotherapy approval for any upper gastrointestinal cancer in the European Union (EU), Bristol Myer Squibb said.

CHMP’s recommendation is based on results from the phase III multicenter, randomized Attraction-3 trial, which demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in patients who received nivolumab versus chemotherapy. Patients were refractory or intolerant to at least one fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based combination regimen, regardless of PD-L1 expression level, Bristol Myer Squibb said.

Thus far, nivolumab has been approved in five countries, including the U.S., for the second-line treatment of patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the firm added.

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Published at Fri, 16 Oct 2020 23:13:52 +0000