Bristol Myers Squibb Drug Combination Wins FDA Approval for Mesothelioma

Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) capped the week with a new approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Friday, the regulator gave the green light for two of the pharmaceutical giant's drugs, Opdivo and Yervoy, to be used in combination to treat a form of mesothelioma. This is a form of cancer that affects the mesothelium, the thin layer of tissue covering many of the body's internal organs.

Specifically, Opdivo and Yervoy can be used in the first-line treatments of adult patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) -- a disease of the mesothelium lining the lungs -- that cannot be removed surgically. It can result from the absorption of asbestos fibers, and according to the FDA roughly 20,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with it annually.

Image source: Getty Images.

Source Fool.com