Bristol-Myers Squibb receives CHMP backing for Yervoy

Bristol-Myers Squibb has been granted a positive opinion from a European Medicines Agency Committee over approval of its new melanoma drug Yervoy.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended the drug for use among patients with previously-treated unresectable or metastatic melanoma, based on evidence from the currently-available clinical data.

Around 67,500 people are diagnosed with new melanoma cases in Europe each year, but despite the increasing prevalence of the condition no new treatment options have been approved in more than a decade.

The European Commission will now decide whether to grant its official endorsement to Yervoy by August 2011.

Magnus Jaderberg, chief medical officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb Europe, said: "We believe that immunotherapy represents the next era of cancer-fighting treatments and we are dedicated to addressing the grave and unmet medical need in melanoma."

This month has also seen Bristol-Myers Squibb and partner Pfizer receive European approval for Eliquis, their new treatment for venous thromboembolic events in orthopaedic surgery patients.