Investors are increasingly anxious about how Roche’s PD-L1 antibody MPDL3280A will compete effectively as the third in the class of immune checkpoint inhibitors to reach the market, as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and Merck & Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) gain momentum in the melanoma market and progress into lung cancer.
Not surprisingly, management spent most of Roche’s first quarter sales and earnings call April 22 responding to questions from analysts about the PD-L1 strategy and particularly the timing of a...