Onyx Pharmaceuticals is working to execute on two launches and produce late-stage data that will enable it to add more indications to its growing roster of marketed drugs. If it succeeds, it could eventually rival competitor Celgene as one of the few biotechs to move from a small cap into the big cap ranks, but any stumbles could slow or eliminate Onyx’s evolution.

Genzyme and Isis are playing up mipomersen’s intrinsic qualities as they prepare to go head-to-head against Aegerion’s Juxtapid in the small homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia market. Kynamro also will carry a price tag that is $119,000 less than Juxtapid’s.

As cabozantinib wins FDA approval for the rare medullary thyroid cancer, Exelixis stresses its broader development program in other tumor types, notably prostate cancer. The company is likely to submit prostate cancer data to compendia, which if successful could enable reimbursement for the off-label use.