Posted by Michael Wonder on 13 May 2019
Japan health ministry orders Ono Pharmaceutical to add warning to Opdivo cancer drug after death
10 May 2019 - The health ministry said Thursday that a patient taking the cancer drug Opdivo has died and that it has ordered the manufacturer to add a warning on the package insert about a serious side effect.
The patient was among 11 who experienced pituitary disorders after being treated with Opdivo, which is made by Ono Pharmaceutical Co.
The medicine, which stimulates the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells, was developed based on research by Kyoto University professor Tasuku Honjo. He was jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the research.
