|
 Opdivo, first approved in December 2014, raked in worldwide revenue
of $467 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30.
The drug has been approved for five other indications in the past 12
months.
The company said on Tuesday the approval allows for the drug's use
in patients with a previously untreated, advanced form of melanoma
and is based on data from a late-stage study comparing the drug with
chemotherapy.
Opdivo, already in use in patients with forms of lung cancer and
with advanced melanoma who have received treatment, belongs to a
promising new class of drugs designed to help the body's immune
system fight cancer by blocking a protein called programmed death
receptor (PD-1).
Wall Street expects such drugs to capture combined annual sales of
over $20 billion by 2020.
(Reporting by Amrutha Penumudi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
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