NKTR-214 addendum: Even if the SITC melanoma data are modestly bullish for NKTR (as I contend), they might be modestly bearish for BMY.
If Opdivo + NKTR-214 eventually gains commercial traction in melanoma, it could come at the expense of Opdivo + (low-dose) Yervoy usage in that setting. BMY owns 35% of the net profits on NKTR-214, but 100% of the net profits on Yervoy.
I concede defeat on the semantics here. However a CR w a PD-1 in melanoma is pretty much tantamount to a cure so continuing to maintain a CR in the same cohort doesn't tell you much. what you need are more patients, not patient-years of data.
Here is 5 year pembro data in melanoma (single agent):
so after 5 years! CRs were ongoing in 92% of patients. So not losing a CR between a 12 month cutoff and 18 months in this setting to me is totally expected