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Shares of Bristol-Myers Falling After Failed Study, While Its Rival Is Surging

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Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) fell more than 17% in morning trade Friday after its cancer drug failed to meet targets in a late-stage study.

The company released few details of the study, called Checkmate-026, but it said that it had not met its primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival. The drug it was testing, Opdivo, has already been approved to treat some types of cancer, but the company was trying to see if it would be successful in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Company CEO Giovanni Caforio said in a release that he was “disappointed” with the result with the result but management remains “committed to improving patient outcomes through our comprehensive development program.”

While BMY was falling, shares of its biggest rival Merck (MRK - Free Report) jumped more than 10% at one point, as their drug Keytruda that competes with Opdivo succeeded in a similar trial recently. It should be noted though. Merck played it a bit safer in the patient population it chose, targeting “high expressors” of the PD-L1 ligand, which both Keytruda and Opdivo target through inhibition of the PD-1 protein in cancer cells. Bristol-Meyers went for a broader patient population, potentially winning in a bigger market but increasing its risk for failure.

With the opening decrease of 17%, Bristol Meyers lost about $21 billion in market cap. Year-to-date shares of the company are more than 8% lower. BMY currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). MRK is currently also a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but shares of the company are up more than 16% so far this year.

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