Shares of the New York company plunged 16 percent Friday,
its biggest one-day drop in 14 years. Shares of rival Merck & Co.,
which makes a rival cancer drug, spiked 10 percent to reach an 18-year
high.
Bristol's drug, Opdivo, and Merck's drug Keytruda are
immunotherapies, which bolster the immune system so that patients can
better fight cancer. Both drugs are already approved to treat melanoma
and lung cancer, but only after chemotherapy.
In June, Merck reported positive results from a key study
focusing on Keytruda as a lone treatment for lung cancer. The negative
results from Bristol appear to put Merck in the lead for treating cancer
patients without resorting to chemotherapy and its drastic side
effects.
The latest late-stage study for Opdivo involved 541 patients who had received no prior treatment for lung cancer.
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