Bristol Myers Squibb bags European Commission nod for Subcutaneous formulation of Opdivo across multiple solid tumor indications

“The EC’s decision to approve Opdivo SC ushers in a new era of cancer care in which we are able to deliver a 3- to 5-minute injection of a treatment that has shown consistent efficacy and comparable safety to intravenous Opdivo, which changed the cancer treatment landscape over a decade ago,” said Dana Walker, M.D., M.S.C.E., Opdivo global program lead, Bristol Myers Squibb. “BMS is committed to advancing medicines that help improve the patient experience, and with the approval of Opdivo SC in the European Union, we are delivering on this goal.”

The positive EC decision is based on results from the CheckMate -67T clinical trial and additional data that demonstrated comparable pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety profiles between Opdivo SC and IV Opdivo. The CheckMate –67T clinical trial showed noninferiority of PK primary endpoints, C_avgd28 (time-averaged Opdivo serum concentration over 28 days) and C_minss (trough serum concentration at steady state), with Opdivo SC vs. IV Opdivo in adult patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) who had received no more than two prior lines of systemic therapy but had not received prior immuno-oncology therapy. The geometric mean ratio (GMR) for C_avgd28 was 2.10 (90% CI: 2.00-2.20) and the GMR for C_minss was 1.77 (90% CI: 1.63-1.93). Additionally, as a key powered secondary endpoint, the objective response rate (ORR) in the Opdivo SC arm (n=248) was 24% (95% CI: 19-30), compared with 18% (95% CI: 14-24) in the IV Opdivo arm (n=247), showing that Opdivo SC has similar efficacy compared to IV Opdivo. The safety profile of Opdivo SC remained consistent with the IV formulation.

The pharmacokinetics, efficacy and safety results from CheckMate -67T were presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Additional analyses were presented at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, and published in the Annals of Oncology.

“As the first and only subcutaneously administered PD-1 inhibitor approved in the European Union, subcutaneous nivolumab is helping to transform the treatment landscape for eligible patients by giving them a new way to potentially receive the same benefits of the IV formulation of nivolumab, in a more convenient manner,” said Laurence Albiges, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medical oncology at Université Paris-Saclay, and head of the Department of Oncology at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France. “This approval provides eligible patients and their doctors a new way to tailor treatment plans for each individual’s needs and to improve the efficiency with which nivolumab can be administered from a patient perspective as well as in the organization of our healthcare resources.”

The approval by the EC is valid in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU), as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

On December 27, 2024, subcutaneous nivolumab and hyaluronidase-nvhy, marketed under the brand name Opdivo Qvantig, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).