Many biogenetic and pharmaceutical companies are moving into the oncology field. The discovery of new types of cancer drugs has focused on the targeting of activities at the molecular level that cause malignancies. Pioneer drug makers and researchers have given the entire field more credibility with investors and developed a complicated and competitive environment surrounding oncology as well. Exelixis Inc., a genetics firm that previously focused on fruit flies, has entered the oncology field with its automated drug discovery system. The firm screens its entire inventory of 4.3 million compounds looking for new drugs. It already has eight anti-cancer compounds in the clinical trial process and six more in pre-clinical testing. Many of the company's drugs are designed to attack cancer-causing actions already addressed by the drugs of other firms. While the United States Food and Drug Administration approves new cancer therapies every year, no single company has managed to take over the treatment of a single kind of cancer, according to Jason Kantor, analyst at RBC Capital Markets. The new drugs tend only to add some months to patients' lives, and many of these drugs are very toxic. Over 150 experimental cancer drugs are in the later stages of clinical trials, according to Windhover Information Inc. And 646 drugs are at some stage of testing, according to PhRMA, a drug industry trade association.