Onyx soars as FDA approves Kyprolis for multiple myeloma

Shares of US biotech firm Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ONXX) leapt 11.7% to $76.38 on Friday, after the US Food and Drug Administration approved the firm’s investigational drug Kyprolis (carfilzomib) to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including treatment with Velcade (bortezomib) and an immunomodulatory therapy.

Annual sales of Kyprolis could reach as much as  $682.7 million in 2016, according to the average of six analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg, which is about 50% more than Onyx’ turnover last year of $447 million. Other analysts have forecast peak sales of $2 billion. This will be the first product for the company to sell on its own. The company’s sole up to now approved drug is the kidney and liver cancer agent Nexavar (sorafenib), which is marketed by Germany’s Bayer.

A form of blood cancer that arises from plasma cells, multiple myeloma usually grows in bone marrow, the soft, spongy tissue found inside most bones. The bone marrow is where normal blood cells are produced. In 2012, an estimated 21,700 people will be diagnosed with multiple myeloma and 10,710 will die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.