BMS melanoma drug meets goal

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced that its investigational melanoma drug ipilimumab has performed well in a phase III study.

The trial, known as study 024, showed that ipilimumab improved overall survival in previously untreated patients with unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma. The trial compared the BMS drug in combination with dacarbazine chemotherapy to the chemotherapy regimen alone.

BMS said it plans to submit an abstract of the data to the American Society of Clinical Oncology for presentation at the society's Annual Meeting this summer.

BMS has already filed the drug with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as regulatory authorities in a number of other countries, as a therapy for previously treated unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma patients. In the US, a decision regarding the drug for that indication is due within days.