Bristol Myers therapy slows rare tumor progression, bolstering radiopharma push

NEW YORK — Bristol Myers Squibb said on Monday its experimental radiopharmaceutical therapy significantly delayed disease ​progression in patients with rare, advanced gastrointestinal and pancreatic tumors that had progressed after earlier treatment.

Shares of the drugmaker were up nearly ‌4% before the bell.

The therapy, RYZ101, which Bristol Myers added through its $4.1 billion takeover of RayzeBio, belongs ⁠to a closely watched class ​of cancer therapies that act like ⁠a 'canonball' to kill cancer cells by delivering radioactive particles to tumorous tissue ‌or tumor-associated cells.

RYZ101 uses ‌the radioactive isotope actinium-225 to deliver radiation directly to tumor cells.

The ⁠late-stage trial tested RYZ101 against standard-of-care treatments ⁠in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, or GEP-NETs, whose disease had progressed after Lutetium-177-based therapy. GEP-NETs are rare cancers that arise in hormone-producing cells of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas.

"This is the kind of impact we set out to deliver with actinium-based radiopharmaceuticals," said Amreen Husain, chief medical ‌officer of RayzeBio.

Major drugmakers, including AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly, ​have invested heavily in next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies that use radioactive isotopes to target tumors.

Wall Street is keenly focused on whether RYZ101 and similar therapies can build on the success of Novartis' radiopharmaceutical drugs and help patients whose disease progresses after currently available therapies.

Bristol Myers said the drug's safety profile was consistent with previous studies and that it planned to ​discuss the data with regulators.

The company did not disclose detailed data from the study, ‌saying results would ‌be presented ⁠at a future medical meeting.

Patients enrolled in the study will continue treatment under the trial protocol and will be followed to assess overall survival.

In earlier study, RYZ101 was well tolerated, with no treatment-related serious adverse events or dose ‌discontinuations due to any ​adverse side effects, Bristol Myers said.

The company ‌said RYZ101 is also ⁠being tested in ​earlier-stage trials in hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer.

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