Volatility Up as ASCO Approaches
The ASCO Annual Meeting is not till the end of the month but news regarding abstract titles and clinical data that will be presented at ASCO moved stocks today. Many immuno-oncology stocks have been hard hit in the 2014 sell-off as investors have moved out of small cap speculative growth into large cap value. The ETF that is weighted more toward mid and small cap biopharmaceutical companies is SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI) is down 3.5% YTD after hitting highs in mid-February.
Some of the movers in biotech today are:
Clovis Oncology, Inc. (CLVS) up 16% today will present data on three investigational therapies in Phase 1 and 2 studies for NSCLC lung cancer, ovarian cancer and breast cancer. See five Abstracts in Press Release. The lung cancer drug CO-1686 has analysts bullish on the stock.
Incyte Corporation (INCY) was off 8.86% on an Abstract from a clinical study on an experimental melanoma drug combined with the Bristol Myers (BMY) drug ipilimumab.Investors are expecting that Incyte’s drug Jakafi will have broader indications for treatments such as pancreatic cancer. The Company is also in a partnership with Astra Zeneca in a joint study for two immuno-oncology drugs.
Puma Biotechnology, Inc (PBYI was down 8.18 % on a Phase 2 trial expanded cohort for their lead compound for HER2 mutation positive solid tumor drug. The stock hit a 52 week high of 143.65 in February 2014.
None of these stocks are on our focus list but we are long CLVS.
We will report on stocks to watch prior to ASCO. Since the acquisition of Onyx by Amgen (AMGN) many companies presenting at ASCO were on investment bankers’ M&A list. We published an overview of emerging biotech stocks on October 9 and on that list were ARIA CLVS INCY MDVN PBYI REGN SGEN etc.
We will report on stocks to watch prior to ASCO. Since the acquisition of Onyx by Amgen (AMGN) many companies presenting at ASCO were on investment bankers’ M&A list. We published an overview of emerging biotech stocks on October 9 and on that list were ARIA CLVS INCY MDVN PBYI REGN SGEN etc.