Vical's bad news probably translates to good news for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY ) . Yervoy, Bristol's melanoma drug, experienced tremendous success during its first full year on the market in 2012. The drug has continued to show strong sales growth this year as well.
Had Allovectin's phase 3 results been better, it could have stolen at least some of Yervoy's thunder. The safety profile and convenience of administration via a regular syringe would probably have appealed to many physicians and patients. Yervoy has some serious side effects and must be administered through intravenous infusion. Now, though, those comparative advantages for Allovectin are moot.
Allovectin could have also made life more difficult for GlaxoSmithKline. Glaxo received U.S. regulatory approval recently for two melanoma drugs -- Tafinlar and Mekinist. Like Yervoy, these two drugs have serious side effects that could make some patients wary of taking them.
The failure of Allovectin should drive up interest in Amgen's (NASDAQ: AMGN ) announcement about survival data for talimogene laherparepvec later this year. Amgen reported good response rates from its phase 3 study of the melanoma vaccine earlier this year. If all goes well, T-Vec (the drug's more easily pronounced abbreviation) could hit peak annual sales of $500 million.
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