FDA’s swift approval of the anti-PD-1 Opdivo (nivolumab) for a new use in second-line lung cancer means a competitive market advantage for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., at least in the short term, for the most valuable indication targeted by cancer immunotherapy.
Opdivo is a member of the programmed-death family of immune checkpoint inhibitors, which release the brakes on mechanisms that would otherwise stop the typical responses of cancer-killing cells in the...