By Colin Kellaher

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. on Wednesday said a Phase 3 study of its cancer drug Opdivo met a primary endpoint of pathologic complete response in resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

The New York biopharmaceutical company said significantly more patients treated with Opdivo plus chemotherapy before surgery showed no evidence of cancer cells in their resected tissue compared with those treated with chemotherapy alone.

Bristol Myers said the study is the first and only Phase 3 trial to show a benefit with an immune checkpoint inhibitor in combination with chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant treatment in non-metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

Non-small cell lung cancer is one of the most common types of lung cancer, representing up to 84% of diagnoses, with non-metastatic cases account for roughly 60% of those diagnoses.

Bristol Myers said Opdivo-based treatments have now shown benefit in four Phase 3 clinical trials in early-stage cancers, including lung cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal/gastroesophageal junction cancer and melanoma.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-07-20 0733ET