Nivolumab

Nivolumab (Nivolumab, trade name Opdivo, Chinese trade name Opdivo, Ono Pharmaceutical’s licensed version trade name Baoshifu) is a fully humanized anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody used to treat cancer. [1][2] The drug is mainly used as a first-line drug in combination with Ipilimumab to treat unresectable or metastatic melanoma, and as a second-line drug in combination with BRAF inhibitors (such as vemurafenib) to treat patients with BRAF mutations in melanoma. [3] The drug is also used as a second-line treatment for squamous non-small cell lung cancer [4] and renal cell carcinoma. [5] Nivolumab, as an immune checkpoint inhibitor, can block PD-1, thereby enabling the immune system to clear cancer. The drug was jointly developed by Medarex and Ono Pharmaceuticals. Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired Medarex and Ono Pharmaceuticals in 2009 and obtained the patent for the drug. The drug is the first PD-1 inhibitor to be included in the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines.