February 8, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CHICAGO – Three companies, Bristol-Myers Squibb , Novartis and Johnson & Johnson Innovation , could see strong revenue growth this year from recently approved drugs, overcoming a recent history of flat revenue, generic competition and currency fluctuations, according to an analysis by the Motley Fool’s Cory Renauer.
Opdivo
Opdivo—Bristol-Myers Squibb’s new cancer PD-1 treatment Opdivo, is currently being used to treat both melanoma as well as lung cancer. In December 2014, Opdivo was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for patients with advanced melanoma who no longer respond to other drugs, or cannot be treated via surgery. In March 2015, it was approved for treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The drug is currently undergoing a Phase III trial in combination with another BMS cancer drug, Yervoy. Opdivo is an immuno-therapy drug delivered via injection that harnesses the patient’s own immune system to fight cancerous cells. Opdivo works by inhibiting the cellular pathway known as PD-1 protein on cells that blocks the body’s immune system from attacking cancerous cells.
Opdivo has an advantage over rival lung cancer drug Keytruda, developed by Merck , which requires patients pass a regulatory diagnostic before being prescribed the medication. BMS’ treatment does not have that restriction, which may make it preferable to prescribe, the Motley Fool said.
Opdivo, which is being heavily advertised in the media, had sales near $1 billion in 2015, but analysts predict it could go much, much higher, hitting nearly $13 billion annually within a few years.
Entresto
Entresto—In July, the FDA approved Novartis’s long-awaited new cardiovascular drug Entresto aimed at treating people with chronic heart failure. The drug, which was shown to reduce risk of death and hospitalization by about 20 percent, was approved six weeks ahead of the FDA’s scheduled action date. Analysts predict the drug could generate $5 billion in annual revenue by 2020, however, since its approval sales have been sluggish in part due to reimbursement issues.
The Motley Fool’s Cory Renauer wrote that some generics are less expensive than Entresto, but, “given Entresto’s ability to reduce expensive hospital visits, I believe it’s just a matter of time before it becomes the new standard of care for millions of eligible patients.” That may be coming sooner than anticipated since Express Scripts, the country’s largest pharmacy benefits manager, added Entresto to its preferred formulary for 2016.
Darzalex
Darzalex—Johnson & Johnson snagged FDA approval for Darzalex for the treatment of multiple myeloma in November 2015. Darzalex is the first human CD38 monoclonal antibody approved anywhere in the world and the first therapeutic antibody ever approved to treat multiple myeloma. Although there is heavy competition in the multiple myeloma market, including Amgen ’s Kyprolis, Renauer predicted the “impressive response rates” of patients treated with Darzalex will lead to expansions of use for the drug, creating a much wider market and revenue source.
“By 2020, the multiple myeloma market is expected to climb to $18.4 billion. Carving out a large portion is just what Johnson & Johnson needs to return its top line to growth in the years ahead,” Renauer said.
