After initiating a position in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY, Financial), we increased our conviction in BMY’s stature as one of the premier names in all of biotech/pharma, deserving of its high multiple. Confidence comes from the performance of its lead immune-oncology asset, Opdivo that has captured 80–85% market share versus Merck’s competitive asset Keytruda, while growing 10–20% month over month. Given the frenetic pace of growth, we expect Opdivo to easily beat 2016’s $2.1 billion Consensus sales number. Looking past 2016, we expect this trend to continue as Bristol launches and/or expands usage of Opdivo in a variety of cancers (lung, melanoma, renal, head and neck, hodgkin’s lymphoma, etc.) and helps change the paradigm of cancer’s treatment worldwide.
From Baron Opportunity Fund first quarter 2016 commentary.
