Bristol-Myers Squibb receives new NICE recommendation for Yervoy

Bristol-Myers Squibb's skin cancer drug Yervoy has been recommended in a new indication by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The UK regulator has issued final draft guidance calling for the drug to be made available on the NHS as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced malignant melanoma which is either unresectable or metastatic.

Previous guidance recommended the drug only be used by the NHS for patients in clinical trials, but during the subsequent consultation Bristol-Myers Squibb submitted further information on how well Yervoy works.

This convinced NICE of the degree to which the approved dose of Yervoy can extend life when compared with current standard care. The final draft guidance is now with consultees, who have the opportunity to appeal against it.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE's chief executive, said: "We already recommend ipilimumab as a second-line treatment and so we are pleased to be able to propose extending that recommendation to first line treatment too."

Earlier this month, the company reported phase III trial data showing how Yervoy significantly improved recurrence-free survival rates among patients with stage 3 melanoma who were at high risk of recurrence following complete surgical resection.