BMS's drug, ipilimumab (Yervoy), was the first checkpoint inhibitor (a kind of cancer immunotherapy drug that essentially helps the immune system release its brake and go after tumor cells it might normally miss) to get approved in the US in 2011 for melanoma. (businessinsider.com)
For one of their first studies, the two looked into how cancer immunotherapy drugs, specifically PD - 1 checkpoint inhibitors, are being used in the real world in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. (businessinsider.com)
The company actually beat Wall Street profit estimates largely thanks to its superstar cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda, which has been shown to best chemotherapy in helping lung cancer patients live longer and given Merck a leg up over rivals like Bristol - Myers Squibb's immune therapy Opdivo. (fortune.com)