NICE Recommends Opdivo Treatment Combo for Gastric and Esophageal Cancer

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) for National Health Service (NHS) use in combination with chemotherapy for patients with untreated HER2-negative, advanced or metastatic gastric, gastroesophageal junction or esophageal adenocarcinoma if the tumors express PD-L1.

The recommendation is supported by clinical trial evidence showing the treatment combination increases life expectancy and the time before the cancer gets worse.

Currently, the long-term remission rate is 4 percent. With Opdivo and chemotherapy, that number could increase to 8 percent, NICE said.

The negotiated price for NHS use was not disclosed.