The FDA has recently approved Bristol-Myers Squibb’s drug Yervoy (ipilimumab), which helps to treat metastatic or late-stage melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer. Yervoy was approved for patients who have tried prior therapy as well as previously untreated patients.
Yervoy works by stimulating the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells, an emerging approach to cancer treatment known as immunotherapy. In clinical trials, the drug was shown to extend average overall survival to 10 months, versus nearly 6.5 months for patients on an experimental vaccine, in people who had tried prior treatments. Although the average survival benefit appears relatively modest, researchers maintain that individuals who took the drug several years ago in early testing, are still alive.
A treatment regimen of Yervoy (four infusions over three months) is expected to cost $120,000 USD. Read more here.
