Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ono Pharma Enter Into Clinical Collaboration

(RTTNews) - Bayer AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.(BMY) and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced Thursday that the three companies entered into a clinical collaboration. As per the agreement, the companies would evaluate the combination of Bayer's kinase inhibitor Stivarga or regorafenib and Bristol-Myers Squibb's / Ono's anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo or nivolumab in patients with micro-satellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer.

Earlier, the phase III study has shown limited response and hence combination apporoaches were high. In a Phase 1b, the combination of regorafenib and nivolumab has shown promising preliminary efficacy results.