Bristol-Myers craters after blockbuster checkpoint drug Opdivo fails key lung cancer study
Bristol-Myers Squibb announced this morning that Opdivo has flopped in a late-stage study on non-small cell lung cancer, presenting a stunning setback for the star therapy. Its shares $BMY immediately plunged 18%, wiping out billions in market value, while rival Merck $MRK—a runner-up in the checkpoint market—saw its shares soar 10%.
Researchers had recruited a broad population of 541 previously untreated first line patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1 at ≥ 5%, a key biomarker used to identify patients most likely to respond. The Opdivo arm was compared to a group who received their physician’s choice of alternative therapies. But this time, in the first major reversal for Bristol-Myers, the drug failed to deliver a significant improvement in progression-free survival.
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