The approval will enable eligible patients in England and Wales to avail Yervoy through the National Health Services (NHS).
Christie NHS Foundation Trust medical oncology senior lecturer Paul Lorigan said the decision helps in the treatment of advanced melanoma.
"Ipilimumab’s potential to provide a long-term survival benefit in some patients makes it an important treatment option and represents a genuine step change in the management of this disease," Lorigan added.
Bristol-Myers Squibb commercial operations executive vice president Beatrice Cazala said, ”We are pleased that our close collaboration with NICE on this appraisal over the past year has resulted in an outcome that is in the best interest of patients."
Metastatic melanoma is a form of skin cancer with an average life expectancy of just six to nine months and a one-year mortality rate of 75%, while Yervoy is the only approved drug for metastatic melanoma that gives a durable long-term survival benefit at two years for 24 % patients.