Bristol-Myers Squibb surprised analysts at the Cowen Health Care Conference Tuesday when it announced it was backing a Phase-III study that combines Yervoy and nivolumab for non-small cell lung cancer.

“They had said previously that they were going to ‘move forward’ with the combo in lung, but (to my knowledge) they had never specified if this would be a new Phase II, an additional arm in an ongoing trial, or a new phase three,” ISI Group’s Mark Schoenebaum wrote in a Tuesday note to investors.

The company disappointed analysts when it revealed little about this combination during its January earnings call. Analysts mostly brushed off this lack of insight, but reaction to the call as a wholewhich included the company’s 2013 results and 2014 expectationsshowed that analysts were giving BMS some wiggle room, based on expectations that the company’s immuno-oncology portfolio is a viable one.

Adding to the pressure is the company’s 2013 decision to walk away from several disciplines, including diabetes, hepatitis and neuroscience.