Covering the waterfront

Exelixis Inc.’s deals with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Roche kick off a new phase of life-cycle management strategy for cabozantinib: pairing it in clinical trials with as many different immunotherapies in as many tumor types as possible. Thanks to signal-seeking studies with outside investigators, the company will have a bevy of indications to choose from.

Cabozantinib is an inhibitor of AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL; UFO), c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase (c-MET; MET), VEGF receptor 1 (FLT1; VEGFR-1), VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3. It is approved as Cabometyx to treat second-line renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and as Cometriq to treat medullary thyroid cancer...