Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) has announced that a late-stage trial of its Opdivo and Yervoy drugs for treating a type of kidney cancer has met one of its main end-points.
The trial showed patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma had a better overall survival with the combination of the two drugs compared to chemotherapy in intermediate and poor risk patients.
The combination treatment also showed to have improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy in all randomised patients.
In reaction, shares rose 1.10% to US$59.87 each in US pre-market trading.
Last month, the company the same late-stage trial had revealed that while the treatment had met one of the main end-points of objective response rate, it had failed to improve progression-free survival in patients.
It continued the trial to evaluate overall survival rates, an end-point which it has now met.
An independent Data Monitoring Committee has recommended the trial be stopped early, based on a scheduled interim analysis, the company said.
Renal cell carcinoma is the most common types of kidney cancer in adults. It accounts for more than 100,000 deaths globally each year.
Following Opdivo’s failure to prolong survival in previously untreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer, Bristol Myers has fallen behind rival Merck & Co in the key field of immune-oncology.