Goldman Sachs Positive on Onyx Pharmaceuticals After Brivanib Failure

Goldman Sachs has published a research report on Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX) with positive news on Bristol Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) Brivanib's failure to meet its primary endpoint.

In the report, Goldman Sachs writes, "ONXX/Bayer's Nexavar is the only drug approved for liver cancer, representing approximately 70% of overall Nexavar sales (we model 2011 sales of $998mn; +7% YoY) and is a key contributor to ONXX's revenue and valuation. We view this news as an incremental positive for ONXX as BMY's Brivanib represents the closest competitor to Nexavar in liver cancer. The failure of Brivanib follows the 2010 failure of PFE's Sutent and highlights the difficulty of developing drugs for liver cancer, in our opinion."

Goldman Sachs maintains its CL-Buy rating on Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which closed yesterday at $42.86.