TMCnet News
BMS Q2 overall sales slip, but Eliquis, Yervoy soar [Medical Marketing and Media](Medical Marketing and Media Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BLOOD-THINNER Eliquis and cancer medication Yervoy powered Bristol-Myers Squibb's second-quarter results, but over- all sales for the three-month period slipped 4% to $3.8 billion, compared to $4 billion during the same period last year. Results were in line with con- sensus, and while the post-call Q&A was peppered with Eliquis and Yervoy questions, analysts largely focused on the company's nascent immuno-oncology port- folio, specifically Opdivo, also known as nivolumab. The com- pany announced in late July that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use granted it Accelerated Assessment sta- tus for metastatic melanoma and that it expects to complete its filing during the third quarter. BMS announced earlier in July that it expects to file the drug with the FDA during the third quarter for advanced mel- anoma. The firm is also testing Opdivo for indications including lung cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma and kidney cancer. Executives noted that mela- noma drug Yervoy, for which sales grew 38% to $321 million compared to the same period last year, is a teaching point of sorts for how it will market Opdivo. COO Giovanni Caforio told ana- lysts that it will pursue different pitches for doctors in academic and community care settings, as it did with Yervoy. Caforio said a lung cancer indication would require a more expansive con- versation. He explained this is because this group of profes- sionals is not as familiar with immuno-oncology agents, so the strategy would include talking "about the value of immunother- apy and long-term survival," as well as Opdivo itself. The strategy for melanoma experts will be low key, since Caforio said Yervoy prescribers are already sold on the drug and immuno-oncology. He also said the company has increased the size of the sales force in anticipa- tion of Opdivo's launch. BMS said its education efforts have helped Eliquis gain ground, with $171 million in second- quarter sales, up from $12 mil- lion for the same period last year. US Eliquis sales contributed $94 million to this quarter's jump. Caforio attributed the gains to the DTC and medical education efforts put together by BMS and its partner Pfizer. The CFO says Eliquis is now in 90% of the hospitals it targeted and has preferred access to a significant percentage of payers. -Deborah Weinstein BMS's immuno-oncology portfolio has become a major focus (c) 2014 Haymarket Media, Inc. |