Bris­tol-My­ers wins the fren­zied race to a first ap­proval for a PD-1/L1 check­point in Chi­na as reg­u­la­tors hus­tle up a quick OK

Bris­tol-My­ers’ $BMY Op­di­vo may be about to cede its top place in the PD-1/L1 world to Mer­ck, but in Chi­na to­day, they’re num­ber 1.

The Chi­na Drug Ad­min­is­tra­tion has ap­proved Op­di­vo for sec­ond line treat­ment of non-small cell lung can­cer, mark­ing the first of­fi­cial en­try of a check­point pi­o­neer in­to the boom­ing health­care mar­ket.

Bris­tol-My­ers, which has been fight­ing a los­ing war with Mer­ck for dom­i­nance in the NSCLC field in the US, wrapped their Phase III with a pre­dom­i­nant­ly Chi­nese group of pa­tients late last year, hus­tling the pos­i­tive re­sults to reg­u­la­tors as they looked to flank their ri­vals in Asia.

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