Bristol-Myers Squibb's ipilimumab achieves Ph III endpoints in metastatic melanoma

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), which is awaiting a decision from the Food and Drug Administration on March 26 (delayed from last December) regarding approval of its melanoma drug candidate ipilimumab, revealed that, in a clinical trial known as study 024, this investigational compound met the primary endpoint of improving overall survival in previously-untreated patients with metastatic melanoma, a fatal form of skin cancer.

Ipilimumab, which will carry the brand name Yervoy, was acquired by B-MS along with its $2.4 billion takeover of fellow USA-based Medarex in the fall of 2009, aimed at expanding the firm’s range of biological drugs and ahead of the patent expiry of the blockbuster blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel), co-marketed with originator France’s Sanofi-Aventis.

Blockbuster potential forecast