Unprecedented survival results for B-MS Yervoy and Roche's vemurafenib in melanoma discussed at ASCO

There was exciting news presented at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting for patients with metastatic melanoma from US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Switzerland’s Roche (ROG: SIX), which presented new data on Yervoy (ipilimumab) and vemurafenib, two competitive drugs for the treatment of this lethal condition which the two companies have also agreed to test as a combination therapy (The Pharma Letter June 3).

"This is really an unprecedented time of celebration for our patients," said Dr. Lynn Schuchter, of the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center, quoted by The Associated Press. The new drugs are not by themselves cures, but "the future is going to be to build upon the success" by testing combinations of these newer drugs, she noted.

B-MS announced results from a second Phase III randomized, double blind study demonstrating that Yervoy prolonged the lives of patients with metastatic melanoma. The data were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is forecast to achieve peak sales of $2 billion a year (TPL March 28).