Bristol-Myers Squibb Expands Collaboration with Seattle Genetics

On June 2, 2017, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Seattle Genetics announced that they would be expanding their collaboration. The companies will be evaluating the combination of BMS’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and Seattle Genetics’ Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) as a potential treatment option for patients with relapsed/refractory or transplant-ineligible advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in a Phase III trial.

ADCETRIS is an antibody drug congugate directed to CD30, a defining marker of classical HL. Opdivo is a human programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) blocking antibody that binds to the PD-1 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and other immune cells.

In addition to the planned trial, ADCETRIS and Opdivo are being evaluated as combination therapy in multiple ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials. These include studies in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and CD30-expressing relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphomas, including T-cell lymphomas, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and other rare subtypes of B-cell malignancies, including mediastinal B-cell lymphoma and mediastinal gray zone lymphoma. In addition, the ADCETRIS and Opdivo combination is being evaluated for older HL patients and relapsed/refractory classical HL for children, adolescents, and young adults.