1. Scrip
  2. >>R&D
  3. >>Clinical Trials

ESMO: BMS’s Opdivo Edges Merck & Co’s Keytruda In First-Line Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancers

Competition Will Be Fierce Between Checkpoint Inhibitors

 
• By Alexandra Shimmings

A new frontier for IO therapies in gastric/gastroesophageal cancers is opening up on positive data for two leading checkpoint inhibitors in first-line advanced disease where BMS’s Opdivo looks likely to have an advantage over Merck & Co’s Keytruda.   

Human antibody
IO Therapy In First-Line Gastric Cancer • Source: Shutterstock

Two checkpoint inhibitors, Bristol Myers Squibb Company/Ono Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd.’s Opdivo and Merck & Co., Inc.’s best-selling Keytruda, have shown efficacy in the first-line treatment of advanced gastroesophageal cancers, a new patient tranche, in Phase III trials recently presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology virtual meeting

Data from the two studies – Opdivo’s CheckMate-649 and Keytruda’s KEYNOTE-590 – suggest the anti-PD1s have similar levels of efficacy...

Read the full article – start your free trial today!

Join thousands of industry professionals who rely on Scrip for daily insights

  • Start your 7-day free trial
  • Explore trusted news, analysis, and insights
  • Access comprehensive global coverage
  • Enjoy instant access – no credit card required
Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber?

More from Clinical Trials

Otsuka’s IgAN Data Top Some Vera Results, But To What End?

 
• By Joseph Haas

Otsuka bested Vera on Phase III immunoglobulin A nephropathy data for proteinuria, but analysts wonder if the difference is especially meaningful.

ASCO: Kite’s Glioblastoma CAR-T Highlights Solid Tumor Progress

 
• By Alaric DeArment

The company presented Phase I data for CART-EGFR-IL13Rα2, showing patient responses in the notoriously hard-to-treat and deadly brain cancer.

Santen Sees Potential In Myopia Market After Ryjunea Approval

 
• By Kevin Grogan

The low-dose atropine eye drop slowed the progression of pediatric myopia by 30%.

Will Pfizer Walk Away From Arvinas After PROTAC Disappointment?

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

Arvinas and Pfizer have just filed the potential first-in-class protein degrader vepdegestrant, but its diminished commercial prospects after mixed Phase III data mean Pfizer could exit.

More from R&D

Deal Build-Up Amid Early ‘Deep’ Response For IGI’s Trispecific In Myeloma

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

IGI CEO tells Scrip about the “very encouraging” feedback at ASCO to promising early data for the firm's first-in-class investigational trispecific antibody in multiple myeloma. Is a licensing deal in the offing?

Ascletis Plans China Submission After Positive Denifanstat Phase III Acne Results

 
• By Sushmita Panda

Once-daily oral FASN inhibitor denifanstat meets all endpoints in a Chinese Phase III trial for moderate-to-severe acne, paving the way for a regulatory submission in China.

New Regenxbio DMD Data Support Gene Therapy Accelerated Approval

 
• By Joseph Haas

Regenxbio reported functional and biomarker data from an ongoing study of RGX-202, which it hopes to file for approval in Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2026.