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 The U.S. drugmaker said on Monday the study, Checkmate-025, was
stopped early after an independent data monitoring committee
concluded that Opdivo provided a survival advantage over the cancer
drug, everolimus, among patients with advanced or metastatic renal
cell carcinoma.
Expectations that the trial would be stopped early were high,
Evercore ISI Mark Schoenebaum said, given the effectiveness of
Opdivo in mid-stage studies, the limited benefit of everolimus, and
that renal cell cancer has historically responded well to
immunologic therapies.
The trial was expected to be completed by February 2016, according
to clinicaltrials.gov.
Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer in
adults, accounting for more than 100,000 deaths annually. Globally,
the five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with metastatic, or
advanced kidney cancer, is 12.1 percent, according to Bristol-Myers.
In April, a large trial testing Opdivo was stopped early after the
drug was found effective against the most common form of lung
cancer.
Opdivo, already in use to treat advanced melanoma and forms of lung
cancer, belongs to a highly promising new class of medicines called
PD-1 inhibitors that block a mechanism tumors use to hide from the
immune system.
The drug competes with Merck & Co's Keytruda.
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AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc and other drugmakers are also developing
PD-1 inhibitors, or similar drugs known as PD-L1 inhibitors.
Separately, smaller drugmaker Exelixis Inc said late-stage data
showed that its cancer drug, Cometriq, was more effective than
everolimus in improving survival without the disease progressing in
patients with advanced kidney cancer.
Bristol's shares rose about 2 percent to $70.45 in early trading.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
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