Thu May 14, 2009 6:01pm EDT
LOS ANGELES, May 14 (Reuters) - More than a third of advanced melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab, an antibody being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) and Medarex Inc (MEDX.O), continued to survive after 18 months, according to data released on Thursday.
The 18-month survival rate for three Phase 2 trials ranged from 34.5 percent to 39.4 percent. Most trial participants had been previously treated with other therapies.
"The median survival in the past was only six months," said Renzo Canetta, head of oncology research at Bristol-Myers.
Two-year survival results are slated for presentation later this month at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando.
Bristol-Myers and Medarex said last year that they would delay seeking approval of the experimental treatment after U.S. health regulators asked for additional overall survival data to further demonstrate the benefit of ipilimumab.
Canetta said Phase 3 data for ipilimumab in melanoma patients is expected to mature toward the end of this year or early 2010.
Ipilimumab is a fully human antibody that binds to a molecule on T-cells that plays a critical role in regulating natural immune responses to disease. The drug is also being studied in other tumor types, including lung cancer and prostate cancer.
Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1434063520090514
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Jimmy B
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