Exelixis, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Gear Up for Round 2 of the Kidney Cancer Drug Battle Royale

Exelixis, Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Gear Up for Round 2 of the Kidney Cancer Drug Battle Royale

Take your seats, investors: The battle in first-line advanced renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer, is about to begin.

In one corner, weighing in at a market cap of $8 billion, there's Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) and its tyrosine kinase inhibitor Cabometyx. In the other corner, towering over the smaller biotech with a market cap of $103 billion, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) packs a one-two punch with its immuno-oncology drugs Opdivo and Yervoy. It's a David versus Goliath battle, but David is holding his own so far with sales of Cabometyx coming in at $80.9 million in the second quarter.

This is round two of the companies' ongoing battle that started in second-line kidney cancer, where Exelixis' Cabometyx and Bristol-Myers' Opdivo both trounced the defending champion, Afinitor, sold by Novartis (NYSE: NVS).

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Source: Fool.com