BMS and Ono expand deals for Orencia and Phase II anticancer antibody

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceuticals have agreed to expand their existing agreements for two products, giving BMS broader rights to an investigational anticancer antibody and granting Ono Japanese co-commercialisation rights to BMS's arthritis drug, Orencia (abatacept).

BMS has now acquired global rights – except for Japan, Korea and Taiwan – to develop and commercialise the fully human anti-PD-1 (programmed cell death 1) antibody BMS-936558/ONO-4538, which in the US is in Phase I and II trials for a variety of tumour types and treatment settings, including renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. In Japan, Ono is preparing for a Phase II trial in melanoma