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Exelixis, Inc.
Exelixis develops and sells oral medicines that treat difficult-to-treat cancers, mainly in the United States.
Exelixis is a cancer drugmaker. It focuses on pills that fight tumors by blocking specific proteins that cancer cells rely on to grow and spread, and it sells these medicines mainly to patients in the United States.
Its flagship product is Cabometyx, a once-a-day tablet used in kidney cancer and other tumors; the company also sells a related drug called Cometriq for a rare thyroid cancer, plus a partner drug, Tecentriq, in certain combinations. Doctors choose these because they are convenient oral options that have shown they help patients live longer, and Exelixis spends heavily on clinical trials to keep testing them in new cancer types. The economics are simple: it books revenue from selling the drugs, pays for research and marketing, and keeps the difference. The business has one big strength and one big weakness. The strength is that Cabometyx is a proven, growing seller that throws off cash. The weakness is that the company leans on a small number of products, so patent cliffs and new competitors matter enormously. Rivals in kidney cancer include Merck and Pfizer, which sell competing treatments, and Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck also sell immunotherapy drugs used alongside the company's pills. That competition, plus pricing pressure in the U.S., is the main thing investors worry about.
Exelixis uses its cash to fund research, buy back shares, and build out its pipeline. It has been developing new cancer drugs of its own, including a candidate called zanzalintinib, to reduce its dependence on a single product. The company reported about $2.2 billion in revenue in 2024, up from the prior year.
Saved answer · last researched 14 Nov 2026
Timeline
Scientists Start Exelixis
Exelixis began in 1994 with a simple but powerful idea: instead of hunting for drugs by trial and error, use genetics in simple model organisms to systematically find the biological targets that matter. The company started as a functional-genomics firm, identifying and validating drug targets. That early platform would eventually produce its flagship product, cabozantinib.
Exelixis Goes Public
After pulling its offering the week before, the company went public in 2000 and raised $118 million in a down market. Getting that much cash when investors were nervous gave Exelixis room to keep funding its research.
Narrowing the Hunt to Cancer
In 2002 Exelixis limited its internal work to cancer and settled on a controversial approach: inhibit small, targeted sets of tyrosine kinases rather than a single protein, which was what most companies were doing. It also signed a broad alliance with GSK worth $30 million in cash plus $90 million in research funding, giving the company both money and a partner.
Morrissey Takes Over as CEO
George Scangos left as CEO in 2010 to run Biogen, and Michael Morrissey, who had joined in 2000, was appointed president and CEO. He inherited a company with eight drugs in clinical trials and a lot riding on what came next.
Cabozantinib Gets First Approval
The first drug approval came in 2012, when cabozantinib was cleared for medullary thyroid cancer, a rare orphan indication. Europe followed in 2014. It was a milestone, but it was still a small market.
A Phase III Failure and Deep Cuts
Exelixis had bet its future on cabozantinib, and in 2014 the drug failed a Phase III trial in prostate cancer. The company laid off 70% of its employees, a brutal sign of how much depended on that one drug.
A Stock Spike and a Fast Raise
Then the story turned. In 2014 the stock spiked 50% on positive Phase 3 kidney cancer trial data for cabozantinib. Days later, shares fell on a 20-million-share public offering at $5.88 to raise about $128 million, giving the company cash right when the kidney cancer path suddenly looked real.
Cabometyx Approved in Kidney Cancer
In 2016 the FDA approved the tablet formulation as a second-line kidney cancer treatment, and Europe approved it that October. Exelixis also licensed Ipsen the worldwide rights outside the US, Canada and Japan to market cabozantinib, adding a partner to help sell it abroad.
Moving to First-Line Kidney Cancer
The FDA then approved cabozantinib as a first-line treatment of kidney cancer in 2017, with Europe following in 2018. That move into first-line use, where far more patients start treatment, turned Cabometyx from about $93 million in 2016 revenue into a product bringing in over $600 million per quarter a decade later.
A Setback in Head and Neck Cancer
By 2025 the growth story hit a rough patch. Second-quarter cabozantinib product revenue came in below expectations, and the company decided not to proceed to Phase 3 of STELLAR-305 in head and neck cancer, citing emerging competition and other opportunities. Shares fell almost 16.8% the next day.
Guidance Cut and an Investigation
In 2026 second-quarter revenue of about $628.7 million missed consensus, and the company lowered full-year guidance. The cause was a slower-than-expected ramp in the neuroendocrine-tumor business, blamed on slow scan intervals and long treatment duration. Shares dropped, and a securities investigation followed over prior guidance reiteration.
Betting on Zanzalintinib
Exelixis is now betting on zanzalintinib, a next-generation TKI, as its next growth driver beyond cabozantinib. The FDA has a target date of March 3, 2027 for a decision in metastatic colorectal cancer with atezolizumab, and positive Phase 3 data in non-clear cell kidney cancer could lead to another regulatory submission.