New Approvals Spark a Melanoma Drug Battle

GlaxoSmithKline emerged as a top Big Pharma for the long run, but new drugs will make or break this company's future. The company took a welcome boost from the FDA recently, when the agency approved Glaxo's two new skin cancer drugs, Tafinlar and Mekinist, for use in treating patients with melanoma.

Glaxo's staring down some tough competition. Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb each made hundreds of millions of dollars in sales last year after both had drugs approved for melanoma in 2011. Can Glaxo rise up to carve out a lucrative niche in this space? In the following video, Fool contributor Dan Carroll and health-care analyst Max Macaluso discuss what's in store for this company's melanoma drugs.

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The article New Approvals Spark a Melanoma Drug Battle originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Carroll and Max Macaluso, Ph.D., have no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Exelixis and owns shares of Exelixis. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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