Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) has announced that Opdivo (nivolumab) plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) demonstrated a significant improvement in overall survival (OS) in patients with previously untreated, unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). This is a rare but aggressive form of cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs, and is frequently caused by asbestos exposure.With a minimum follow-up of 22 months, treatment with Opdivo plus Yervoy reduced the risk of death by 26%, demonstrating a median OS of 18.1 months vs. 14.1 months for chemotherapy. At two years, 41% of patients treated with the Opdivo plus Yervoy combination were alive, compared to 27% of patients treated with chemotherapy.The safety profile of Opdivo plus Yervoy in the Phase 3 CheckMate -743 clinical trial was consistent with previously reported studies, and no new safety signals were observed.The primary endpoint of the randomized Phase 3 trial, which involved 605 patients, was OS in all randomized patients. Key secondary endpoints included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and progression-free survival (PFS).“An aggressive cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%, malignant pleural mesothelioma has shown resistance to many clinical treatments,” said Paul Baas, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Thoracic Oncology, Netherlands Cancer Institute.“Now, for the first time, we have evidence that a dual immunotherapy combination showed a superior, sustained overall survival benefit compared to chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of all types of malignant pleural mesothelioma” he stated, adding that the data supports the potential for nivolumab plus ipilimumab to become a new standard of care.Indeed, in CheckMate -743, Opdivo plus Yervoy showed improvements in survival across both non-epithelioid and epithelioid MPM, with a larger magnitude of benefit observed in the non-epithelioid subgroup. This is striking because non-epithelioid patients generally experience poorer outcomes.With the dual immunotherapy combination, median OS was 18.7 months for epithelioid patients and 18.1 months for non-epithelioid patients, compared to 16.5 months and 8.8 months, respectively, with chemotherapy.Opdivo plus Yervoy is a combination of two immune checkpoint inhibitors, targeting two different checkpoints to help destroy tumor cells: Yervoy helps activate and proliferate T cells, while Opdivo helps existing T cells discover the tumor.Shares in BMY are down 5% year-to-date, but the stock scores a bullish Strong Buy consensus from the Street. That’s with an average analyst price target of $69 (13% upside potential).On August 6 JP Morgan’s Chris Schott reiterated his buy rating on the stock, writing 2Q sales were negatively impacted due to unwinding of COVID-19-related stocking in 1Q, reduced new patient starts, and fewer patient visits to physicians.However the analyst noted that management expects an accelerated resumption of clinical trials in 2H20. “We found the commentary to be comparable to other large-cap biopharma companies this earnings season” Schott wrote. He has a $74 price target on BMY for upside potential of 21%.(See BMY stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Amarin’s Vascepa To Take Part In Covid-19 Study In Adults With Heart Disease Moderna Secures $400M In Deposits For Supply Of Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate Eli Lilly, Innovent Deliver Encouraging Lung Cancer Data For Sintilimab More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * AstraZeneca Strikes First China Manufacturing Deal For Covid-19 Candidate * Regeneron Prices $1.25B Public Offering; Analyst Cautious On Valuation * Cisco Completes ThousandEyes Deal; Analyst Warns Of Growth Headwinds * Roper Looking To Snap Up Vertafore For $5.5 Billion- Report

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Top news and what to watch in the markets on Monday, August 10, 2020.

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Mavin has been addicted to heroin for decades. To pay for his habit he’s found what he says is the easiest way to earn money, sweeping floors in gold shops. But rather than being paid to do the job, he’s the one who has to pay the shop owners. The dust he sweeps up is how he can afford his “medicine”. 

The Sri Lankan government runs rehabilitation centres for those who suffer from substance abuse and dependency under the Bureau of Commissioner General Rehabilitation. There are also other…

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Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng Inc. filed for an initial public offering with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. What Happened The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA)-backed company said it would list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "XPEV."Xpeng didn't reveal how many Class A shares it would be offering or their pricing, but said it intended to sell about 429.8 million Class B ordinary shares. It put a placeholder number of $100 million as amount it expected to raise in the IPO; companies typically reveal the actual amount they expect to raise in later filings. Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS), JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) are serving as the underwriters for the offering.Why It Matters The electric vehicle maker raised $400 million ahead of the filing from Alibaba, along with the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, CNBC reported last week.In July, the automaker raised 0 million from Hillhouse Capital, Coatue Management, Aspex, and Sequoia Capital's local division.In total, Xpeng has raised $2.6 billion as of its latest Series C funding round, according to Crunchbase.Xpeng started delivering its P7 sports sedan in June; the car competes with Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model 3. Local EV competitor Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) raised $1 billion in its IPO in September 2018. Its shares have risen 234% YTD. Late last month, another Chinese EV maker Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ: LI) raised $1.1 billion in its IPO.The U.S. Senate passed a law in May that seeks to delist Chinese companies on domestic exchanges.The EV maker addressed the law in its filing noting, the legislation "may have a material and adverse impact on the stock performance of China-based issuers listed in the United States."Photo courtesy: XPeng Inc. See more from Benzinga * Credit Suisse Reports Q2 Earnings Beat * Credit Suisse Silently Invested 0M In Alibaba Subsidiary Ant Financial, Set To Benefit Immensely In Public Debut * SoftBank Withdraws 0M From Credit Suisse Fund Over Conflict Of Interest With Vision Fund(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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The space “from a small community of space enthusiasts to leadership by seasoned execs”, says Chad Anderson, managing partner at Space Capital.

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Diageo plc (LON:DGE) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 13th…

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When close to half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 19x, you may…

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Hyundai Motor Co (OTC: HYMTF) announced the launch of a brand dedicated to battery electric vehicles on Sunday.What Happened: The automaker plans to sell one million units of battery-electric vehicles by 2025, occupying 10% of the global market share, in an effort to emerge as a leader in the segment under its dedicated EV brand "Ioniq."Three electric vehicles under the Ioniq brand will be released beginning early 2021, according to Hyundai. Launch of a midsize crossover vehicle in early 2021, a sedan in early 2022, and a large crossover vehicle in early 2024 is planned.Nikola Wants To Coopearte: Trevor Milton, the chief executive officer of Nikola Corporation (NASDAQ: NKLA), disclosed his intention of cooperating with Hyundai in an interview with local Korean media Sunday, Reuters reported.Milton said he proposed cooperation with the Seoul-based carmaker twice, which rebuffed his efforts both times. A Threat To Tesla's Rise: EV rival Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has been seeing an impressive surge in business in South Korea, becoming a dominant player on the back of Model 3 sales.The Elon Musk-led company sold 2,827 vehicles in the country in June, with another 4000-5000 awaiting delivery. Its Model X vehicles are also said to be picking up momentum, according to Reuters.EV Sector Growth In South Korea: SK Securities analyst Kwon Soon-woo told Reuters that the rise in shares of Hyundai on Monday reflects "investors' hope that the auto industry will outperform compared to other industries."Korean battery makers such as LG Chem Ltd (OTC: LGCLF), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (OTC: SSNLF) unit Samsung SDI Co, and SK Innovation Co. dominated EV battery supplies in the first half this year globally, according to SNE Research.Price Action: Hyundai shares traded 10.54% higher at $136.86 on Monday at press time in Seoul. The company's shares closed 4.67% at $31.39 in the otc market on Friday.Photo courtesy: Hyundai Motor Co.See more from Benzinga * Kodak 5M Federal Loan For Generic Drugs Paused Until Allegations Are Probed * Activist Investor ValueAct Offloads Entire Stake In Rolls-Royce: FT * Daniel Loeb's Third Point To Merge With Fellow Insurance Firm Sirius Group, Create .3B Entity(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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