Bristol-Myers Squibb receives Opdivo recommendation

Bristol-Myers Squibb has received a recommendation from the Scottish Medicines Consortium for its cancer immunotherapy drug Opdivo.

The body says Opdivo (nivolumab) can be used to treat advanced-stage squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

General manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb UK & Ireland Johanna Mercier said the move "gives Scottish NHS patients the chance to benefit from one of the biggest treatment advances in this type of lung cancer for decades".

Opdivo is currently being assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and, as it stands, is not available to patients in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Ms Mercier criticised the current "antiquated" UK drug approval system and urged the government to update its approach so that needs, rather than location, are the overriding factor when deciding which patients can receive treatment.

A Phase III trial of 272 patients showed that treatment using nivolumab resulted in a 42 percent survival rate after one year, compared to 24 percent among patients treated with docetaxel, with Severe treatment-related adverse events occurring less frequently among the patients prescribed nivolumab.