2 June 2017 - Patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma living in England and Wales could now become the first to get routine access on the NHS to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy Opdivo after a u-turn saw cost regulators provisionally back the drug.

In a reversal of previous draft guidance on the back of new data, NICE has issued a final appraisal determination recommending the immunotherapy for the treatment of adult cHL patients whose cancer is progressing despite prior autologous stem cell transplantation and treatment with brentuximab vedotin.

Clinical data show that Opdivo (nivolumab) caused “considerable cancer reduction” in over two-thirds of patients (68%), measured as objective response rate (ORR), of which 8% saw a complete response where no recognisable sign of cancer remained.

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