Bristol-Myers Has Withdrew its Application for Combination Lung Cancer Treatment

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co had a surprising announcement on Thursday as it reported financial results.

The pharma giant revealed to Wall Street that it has withdrew its application for U.S. approval for a combination of its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy drugs Opdivo and Yervoy as an initial treatment for advanced lung cancer. The company will be working to collect more data and said the decision was made after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported results that were better than expected. It also reported 2019 earnings projections that were in line with what analysts are expecting.

For the quarter, the New York-based company reported net earnings of $1.19 billion, or 73 cents a share in the quarter, compared with a loss of $2.3 billion, or $1.42 a share, last year. It earned 94 cents a share in the quarter while analysts were only expecting 85 cents.

Fourth-quarter sales for Opdivo at $1.8 billion easily beat analysts’ estimates of $1.47 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Looking ahead, Bristol-Myers has forecast adjusted earnings of $4.10 to $4.20 per share for 2019, excluding any impact from the Celgene deal. Revenue is expected to be $5.97 billion.

It was earlier this month that the drug maker revealed plans to acquire Celgene Corp. for $74 billion.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article and have not been compensated for this article.