FDA panel votes against broader use of checkpoint blockers

A US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meeting has recommended restricting the use of PD-1 inhibitors, in a move which could affect blockbuster products such as Bristol Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) Opdivo (nivolumab) and Merck & Co's (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

The panel voted in favor of excluding this type of immunotherapy for people with lower levels of PD-L1 expression, in certain stomach and esophageal cancers.

This decision impacts individuals with advanced HER2-negative gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).