Bristol-Myers Sqibb Co’s (NYSE:BMY) faltering lung cancer programme suffered another setback after it dropped plans to file for accelerated approval of an immunotherapy combination.
In a statement, Bristol Myers said it had made the decision about Opdivo/Yervoy after assessing the data available.
The news was set to knock US$6bn off the pharma giant’s market value when trading got underway, while giving a major boost to rival Merck that has a competing drug.
Merck’s treatment for first line lung cancer, Keytruda, received regulatory approval last December.
Checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo is big earner for Bristol Myers, but a failure of its trial as a single therapy for non-small cell lung cancer wiped US$24bn from the company’s value in August due to the size and importance of this market.
After that result, analysts said the best hope in this indication was a combination therapy where four trials are currently underway.
A filing for approval will not now likely go ahead under 2018 and that depends on results from the trials.
As well as Merck, the UK’s AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and Swiss firm Roche also have lung cancer drugs in development.