Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the European Commission has approved nivolumab BMS for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic squamous (SQ) non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after prior chemotherapy. This approval marks the first major treatment advance in SQ NSCLC in more than a decade in the European Union (EU). Nivolumab is also the first and only PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate overall survival (OS) in previously-treated metastatic SQ NSCLC. This approval allows for the marketing of nivolumab in all 28 Member States of the EU.

“With the EU approval of nivolumab, patients in Europe have for the first time in more than ten years access to an entirely new treatment modality for advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer, which has the potential to replace the current standard of care,” said Emmanuel Blin, senior vice president, Head of Commercialization, Policy and Operations, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “Bristol-Myers Squibb is passionate about changing survival expectations and the way patients live with advanced cancers, and is committed to continually deliver, with speed and urgency, new approaches to pursue this goal.”

For more details, go to: http://news.bms.com/press-release/european-commission-approves-nivolumab-bms-first-pd-1-immune-checkpoint-inhibitor-euro