PRINCETON -
Validation of the application confirms that the submission is complete and initiates the EMA's centralized review process.
The filing is based on results from the pivotal Phase 3 CheckMate -649 trial, in which first-line treatment with Opdivo plus leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) or capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CapeOX) was compared to treatment with chemotherapy alone. Results showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic GC, GEJ cancer or EAC whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) 5 (the primary endpoints of the study). The statistically significant OS benefit shown with Opdivo plus chemotherapy was also observed in PD-L1 positive patients with CPS 1 and in the all-randomized population. The safety profile observed for Opdivo plus chemotherapy in the CheckMate -649 trial was consistent with the known safety profiles of the individual treatments.
'Gastric cancer is among the top three causes of cancer death globally, and a large proportion of metastatic gastric and esophageal cancer patients do not live beyond one year after diagnosis. Today's validation by the EMA marks a crucial step toward advancing treatment options and helping to improve outcomes for people living with these cancers,' said
About Gastric Cancer
Gastric cancer, also known as stomach cancer, is the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide, with over 1,000,000 new cases and approximately 783,000 deaths in 2018. There are several cancers that can be classified as gastric cancer, including certain types of cancers that form in the GEJ, the area of the digestive tract where the esophagus and stomach connect. While GEJ cancer has a lower prevalence than distal gastric cancer, it continues to rise. First-line treatment for patients with gastric or GEJ cancer often provides the best chance for efficacy as many patients cannot proceed to subsequent treatments in later settings due to deterioration.
About Esophageal Cancer
Esophageal cancer is the seventh most common cancer and the sixth leading cause of death from cancer worldwide, with approximately 572,000 new cases and over 508,000 deaths in 2018. The two most common types of esophageal cancer are squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, which account for approximately 85% and 14% of all esophageal cancers, respectively, though esophageal tumor histology can vary by region with the highest rate of esophageal adenocarcinoma occurring in
About Opdivo
Opdivo is a programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor that is designed to uniquely harness the body's own immune system to help restore anti-tumor immune response. By harnessing the body's own immune system to fight cancer, Opdivo has become an important treatment option across multiple cancers.
Opdivo's leading global development program is based on
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Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding, among other things, the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. All statements that are not statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations and projections about our future financial results, goals, plans and objectives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them in the next several years, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause our future financial results, goals, plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, that Opdivo, in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-based combination chemotherapy, may not receive regulatory approval for the additional indication described in this release in the currently anticipated timeline or at all and, if approved, whether such combination treatment for such indication described in this release will be commercially successful. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. It should also be noted that the validation of the MAA does not change the standards for EMA approval. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect
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