Ono Pharma releases sales projections for its cancer drug Opdivo

12 April 2016

Japanese drugmaker Ono Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4528) has released sales projections for its new cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab), which gained approval in Japan in for the treatment of melanoma in 2014 and for lung cancer in December last year.

For the fiscal year 2015 ending March, sales were expected to be 3.5 billion yen ($32.4 million) at the beginning of the period when the indication was only limited to malignant melanoma. The full-year sales forecast was revised to be 5.5 billion yen in the summary of financial statements of the 2nd quarter of the fiscal year 2015 ending March (disclosed on November 4, 2015).

The company’s move was prompted by speculation that, due to its high price, Opdivo would generate sales of 1.75 trillion yen in Japan for the lung cancer indication. Ono, which also has rights to the drug in other Asian markets under a license from Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), made no mention of the price of the drug in Japan.

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