Bristol-Myers Jumps After Successful Study of Cancer Drug

A promising treatment from Bristol-Myers Squibb may be fast-tracking toward another approved use after researchers stopped a study early because the drug did better than an older treatment in patients with an advanced form of lung cancer.

Shares of the New York drugmaker jumped Friday morning after it said Opdivo fared better than the chemotherapy drug docetaxel when tested in a late-stage study involving patients with an advanced form of non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. The main goal of the study was measuring overall survival rates.

Late-stage research is generally the final phase of clinical testing for a drug before regulators decide whether to approve it.

Bristol-Myers said an independent data monitoring committee made the decision to stop the study early. It did not detail the results that prompted that decision.

The 582 patients in the study had been previously treated and were receiving intravenous injections of either Opdivo or docetaxel.

Opdivo is part of a new class of immuno-oncology drugs that harness the immune system to attack cancer cells. Last month, federal regulators approved it for patients with the most common form of lung cancer, advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

In December, the Food and Drug Administration also granted an accelerated approval to Opdivo for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.....Source