BMS, Pharmacyclics and Janssen collaborate on cancer
pharmafile | October 14, 2014 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | BMS, Janssen, Pharmacyclics, imbruvica, opdivo
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacyclics and Janssen are to collaborate on clinical trials combining BMS’s cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab) with Janssen and Pharmacyclics’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib).
The Phase I/II study conducted by Janssen will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combined drugs for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
The firms say that each of the drugs has individually shown activity against haematologic malignancies in clinical trials, and that “pre-clinical evidence suggests Opdivo and Imbruvica may have the potential for additive treatment effects” for these patients.
Michael Giordano who is the senior VP heading up the oncology unit at Bristol-Myers Squibb, says: “Our collaboration to study Opdivo in combination with Imbruvica is an innovative approach to accelerating Bristol-Myers Squibb’s progress in the study of immuno-oncology and haematologic malignancies, gaining further insight into promising areas of drug development and research.”
Bob Duggan the chairman and chief executive of Pharmacyclics, adds: “This collaboration underscores our interest in exploring the use of IMBRUVICA in combination with other therapies to address a variety of histologies in which we believe IMBRUVICA can make a meaningful clinical difference.”
Immunotherapy Opdivo recently received swift approval from the FDA for the treatment of advanced melanoma, and the drug has also been fast-tracked for Hodgkin lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). It is speculated to be worth up to $30 billion by the next decade, although it faces competition from Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).
Imbruvica meanwhile is an oral therapy that inhibits the enzyme that allows cancer cells to grow and divide. It is currently approved to treat patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) or CLL and was one of the first medicines to be approved via the FDA’s ‘breakthrough’ designation pathway. Analysts have forecasted peak annual sales of $5 billion for the drug.
George Underwood
Related Content
Bristol Myers Squibb receives positive CHMP opinion for Opdivo treatment
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products …
Janssen’s study for nipocalimab as indicated for EOS-HDFN published in The New England Journal of Medicine
Johnson & Johnson company Janssen has announced that the results from its phase 2 trial …
Elekta and BMS partner for digital treatment for melanoma
Elekta and Bristol Myers Squibb have announced a pilot collaboration in which the companies plan …
