Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended approval of Opdivo (nivolumab) in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. The European Commission (EC), which has the authority to approve medicines for the European Union (EU), will now review the CHMP recommendation. The final EC decision is expected in June 2024.

“For eligible patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line setting has been the standard of care for decades but the durability of response to chemotherapy alone is poor and once a patient progresses, treatment options become increasingly limited,” said Dana Walker, vice president and Global Program Lead, Genitourinary Cancers, Bristol Myers Squibb. “New treatment options that may improve responses, delay disease progression, and offer survival benefit in the first-line setting are needed. With today’s CHMP positive opinion, we are one step closer to potentially providing eligible patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in the European Union with a new first-line treatment option.”

On March 7, 2024 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Opdivo in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as a first-line treatment for adult patients with unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, following a Priority Review. Opdivo and Opdivo-based combinations have shown significant improvements in OS in Phase 3 clinical trials across multiple tumors, including urothelial carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Bristol Myers Squibb thanks the patients and investigators involved in the CheckMate -901 clinical trial.