Bristol-Myers Immune Drug Improves Lung Cancer Survival

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. gained the most in six years after trial data released by the company showed its experimental cancer drug Opdivo improved survival rates for late-stage lung cancer patients.

An estimated 41 percent of the advanced lung cancer patients taking Opdivo were alive after a year on the drug, compared with 5.5 percent to 18 percent of these patients who historically have survived over that time-frame, Bristol-Myers said today in a statement. About 15 percent of the 117 patients in the mid-stage study responded to the treatment, one of a new class of cancer therapies that harnesses the body’s immune system to attack the disease.