The first-ever combination of breakthrough drugs to fight cancer has received final approval. These combination drugs are said to boost the immune system and help in fight against cancer. The approval has given Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. an early lead over competitors testing other combos in a pharmaceutical gold rush of sorts.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. announced on Thursday that FDA has approved the use of its drugs Yervoy and Opdivo for the treatment of advanced melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

The trials showed that together, the drugs slowed or temporarily stopped tumor progression in 60% of patients, as compared to 11% who receive Yervoy. The findings were received in a key study of 140 previously untreated patients with melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer type.

The combo increased the time until melanoma resumed progressing, to an average of about nine months, versus nearly five months for Yervoy alone. The Opdivo caused serious side effects in 62% of study participants, compared with 39% only getting Yervoy.

The worst side effects included colitis, kidney and liver damage, severe diarrhea, lung inflammation and fever. With a wholesale price of $141,000 to $256,000, even many insured patients may not be able to afford their portion of the tab, though Bristol-Myers and some charities help many patients cover much of it.

Bristol-Myers shares rose 85 cents to close at $60.05. Melanoma, in which pigment-producing skin cells grow at an uncontrolled rate, has been getting more common for at least three decades, as per records.

Almost 75,000 cases are forecasted to be diagnosed in US this year.

“What we don’t want to see is that cost becomes a factor in people getting the best kind of care that’s available,” said Tim Turnham, executive director of the nonprofit Melanoma Research Foundation.

“It is the first example of an immuno-oncology treatment that could produce an objective [tumor] response in the majority of patients,” said.