Study demonstrates superior PFS with Opdivo plus Yervoy

US pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) this morning said that a much anticipated, late-stage trial testing its immunotherapy cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) in patients with a common type of lung cancer had met its main Phase III goal, sending the firm’s shares 3.99% higher to $66.01 in pre-market trading.

B-MS said the ongoing Phase III CheckMate -227 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) with the Opdivo plus its own drug Yervoy (ipilimumab) combination versus chemotherapy in first-line advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients whose tumors have high (≥10 mutations/megabase, mut/mb) tumor mutation burden (TMB), regardless of PD-L1 expression.