Not all Food and Drug Administration approvals are created equal. Sometimes they create massive increases in stock prices, like the spikes Vanda Pharmaceuticals
Bristol-Myers Squibb's
The FDA grants accelerated approvals for cancer drugs like Sprycel and Roche's Avastin, HIV drugs like Merck's
Now that Bristol-Myers has the formalities out of the way, it can get back to working on getting Sprycel out of its niche market and approved to treat other types of cancer. The drug is being tested in a wide variety of tumors from lung to brain and everything in between.
The lesson here, Fools, is to avoid hitting the buy button just because you see the announcement of an approval. Sprycel may end up being a blockbuster for Bristol-Myers, but yesterday's approval isn't going to move it very far toward that goal.