For the median value in the control arm to be fixed, it is not necessary that all patients in the control have died. Rather, it is necessary that both of these two conditions hold:
1. Fewer than half of the total patients in the control arm are still living; and
2. All living patients in the control arm have already lived longer than the 16.9-month median value.
Based on the wording in the PR, it’s reasonable to infer that the median survival time in the control arm will indeed stay at 16.9 months. However, this in itself doesn’t mean much because it’s the hazard ratio—not the median value in the two arms—that will ultimately determine whether this trial is considered a success.