Some large-cap drugmakers are in much better shape than others, even if their valuations don't always show it. Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Ever since Bristol-Myers Squibb and partner Sanofi-Aventis
While Plavix represents Bristol-Myers' most important near-term growth determinant, more recently launched drugs, like cancer treatments Sprycel and Ixempra, will help to determine the company's longer-term financial fortunes. Although these compounds amount to only a fraction of Plavix's sales today, combined revenue from Sprycel and Ixempra climbed 28% sequentially. Regarding its pipeline, Bristol-Myers predicts a "mid-year" FDA New Drug Application filing for its diabetes treatment saxagliptin, a potential competitor to Merck's
Like other large-cap drugmakers such as Biogen Idec
Many traditional large-cap pharmas like Pfizer