Bristol Myers Squibb Receives European Commission Approval for Opdivo (nivolumab) as Second-Line Treatment for Unresectable Advanced, Recurrent or Metastatic Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinom

- Opdivo?reduced risk of death by 23%, compared to chemotherapy alone [Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.77; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.62 to 0.96; p=0.019].
- Median OS with?Opdivo?was 10.9 months (95% CI: 9.2 to 13.3) compared to 8.4 months (95% CI: 7.2 to 9.9) with chemotherapy alone, demonstrating a 2.5-month improvement.
- The?Opdivo?arm showed 12- and 18-month OS rates of 47% (95% CI: 40 to 54) and 31% (95% CI: 24 to 37), respectively, versus 34% (95% CI: 28 to 41) and 21% (95% CI: 15 to 27) among patients in the chemotherapy arm. Survival benefit with?Opdivowas observed regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression levels.
- Objective response rates (ORR) between the?Opdivo?and chemotherapy arms were comparable at 19% (95% CI: 14 to 26) and 22% (95% CI: 15 to 29), respectively.
- Median duration of response (DoR) for patients was substantially increased in the?Opdivo?arm at 6.9 months (95% CI: 5.4 to 11.1) versus 3.9 months (95% CI: 2.8 to 4.2) in the chemotherapy arm.
- An exploratory analysis of patient-reported outcomes showed significant overall improvement in quality of life with?Opdivo?versus chemotherapy. Fewer treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were reported with?Opdivo?versus chemotherapy, with a rate of 66% for any grade TRAEs in patients receiving?Opdivo?compared to 95% for those patients receiving chemotherapy. Patients in the?Opdivo?arm also experienced a lower incidence of Grade 3 or 4 TRAEs compared to those in the chemotherapy arm (18% versus 63%), and the percentage of patients experiencing TRAEs leading to discontinuation was the same in both arms (9%).