European Commission Approves Nivolumab BMS for Patients with Previously-Treated Advanced Squamous NSCLC

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced that the European Commission has approved Nivolumab BMS for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic squamous (SQ) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after prior chemotherapy. This approval marks the first major treatment advance in SQ NSCLC in more than a decade in the European Union (EU). Nivolumab is also the first and only PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate overall survival (OS) in previously-treated metastatic SQ NSCLC. This approval allows for the marketing of nivolumab in all 28 Member States of the EU.

“With the EU approval of nivolumab, patients in Europe have for the first time in more than 10 years access to an entirely new treatment modality for advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer, which has the potential to replace the current standard of care,” said Emmanuel Blin, senior vice president, Head of Commercialization, Policy and Operations, BMS. “BMS is passionate about changing survival expectations and the way patients live with advanced cancers, and is committed to continually deliver, with speed and urgency, new approaches to pursue this goal.”

Approval is based on the results of CheckMate -017 and -063. In the Phase III CheckMate -017 study, nivolumab demonstrated superior clinical benefit across all endpoints versus docetaxel, the standard of care, regardless of PD-L1 (programmed death ligand-1) expression status, including a 41% reduction in the risk of death, significantly superior OS rate of 42% versus 24% for docetaxel at one-year and superior durable antitumor activity. In the Phase II CheckMate -063 study, nivolumab showed an estimated 41% one-year survival rate and a median OS of 8.2 months. The safety profile of nivolumab is consistent with previously-reported trials, and in Checkmate -017, is also favorable compared to docetaxel.

“Today’s approval of nivolumab for squamous NSCLC is truly a major advance for patients fighting this devastating disease, and the providers that treat them,” said Rolf Stahel, president of the European Society of Medical Oncology and Professor at University Hospital Zurich. “Nivolumab has shown statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in efficacy versus standard of care in this patient population. This approval reinforces the science behind immuno-oncology including our understanding of the role of PD-L1 expression.”