Company: Exelixis ($EXEL)
Based: South San Francisco, CA
R&D budget: $210.7M (€153M)
Change from 2009: -10%
Net revenue spent on R&D: 88%

Exelixis went through some big changes in 2010. CEO George Scangos left to take charge of the Biogen Idec turnaround. Then Mike Morrissey stepped into the top spot and quickly opted to put all the company's eggs in one basket: Cabozantinib. Programs were shelved. Expenses were cut.

But there's nothing cheap or easy about cabo. All of the drug's strengths and weaknesses have been on display in recent weeks. A Phase III for thyroid cancer hit its endpoint, helping to push up its share price. The stock just as quickly took a big hit when Morrissey had to announce that the FDA didn't see eye-to-eye on its late-stage trial design for prostate cancer--the blockbuster indication where cabo can earn some big bucks.

Exelixis opted to bypass the FDA's SPA process and proceed with a focus on pain endpoints while setting up a backup plan to cover overall survival. That is not ideal, but Exelixis can be stubborn when it comes to development plans. Bristol-Myers Squibb execs opted to drop out of its partnership for the promising cabozantinib when they couldn't agree on study strategies.

Don't look for Morrissey to start bending now.