Data on Bristol-Myers' Yervoy - Analyst Blog

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY reported data on its skin cancer drug Yervoy (10 mg/kg) from a phase III study (n=951). Bristol-Myers evaluated the efficacy of Yervoy (in an adjuvant setting) in preventing or delaying recurrence following complete resection of high-risk stage 3 melanoma (cancer had spread to regional lymph nodes but not yet to other parts of the body) through the randomized, double-blind study.

Data from the study reveled that Yervoy treatment caused significant improvement in recurrence-free survival (RFS: time before recurrence or death) in patients with stage 3 melanoma at high risk of recurrence following surgical resection compared to those in the placebo arm.

The 25% reduction in melanoma recurrence or death in the Yervoy arm compared to those treated with placebo meant that Yervoy met the primary objective of the study. The company stated that further trials on Yervoy for melanoma in the adjuvant setting are underway.

Yervoy (3 mg/kg) as a monotherapy is currently available for treating patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, the most severe form of skin cancer.
 
Though most of the adverse events were generally consistent with those observed using Yervoy in advanced melanoma, a higher incidence of endocrinopathies was observed in the study.

Bristol-Myers reported encouraging long-term survival data on the combination of Yervoy and nivolumab from a phase Ib study (study 004: n=127) on advanced melanoma patients. The overall survival rate following one year of treatment by the combination was 94% and 88% after two years.

Similar encouraging results on the combination from the ongoing late-stage studies would be highly encouraging. Data from the phase Ib study  was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) .

Bristol-Myers carries a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold).  Better-ranked stocks in the healthcare space include Gilead Sciences GILD, Allergan AGN and Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN. While Gilead and Allergan carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Alexion is a Zacks Rank # 2 (Buy) stock.