FDA Clears Bristol-Myers Melanoma Drug
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bristol-Myers Squibb won U.S. approval on Friday for the first drug shown to extend the lives of patients with a deadly form of skin cancer.
Shares of the company rose 2 percent to $26.97 after the Food and Drug Administration announced clearance of the drug under the brand name Yervoy for patients with advanced melanoma. The medicine's generic name is ipilimumab.
A Thomson Reuters consensus forecast of four analysts calls for ipilimumab sales to reach about $820 million in 2015.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The FDA said it was requiring steps to inform doctors and patients about risks of the drug "due to the unusual and severe side effects," including fatal autoimmune reactions.