June 5…ASCO Update: Incyte Puma and Roche
A lot of the product news is already “baked into” stock prices but here is a brief summary of big movers today on clinical news updates. The bellwether XBI peaked at $71.72 today and is down 0.62% to $70.66.
bluebird bio (BLUE) up 8.5% to $91.30
BLUE soared today on updated positive clinical results for ongoing Phase 1 CRB-401, anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapy with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in 18 patients.The drug had an overall 100% response rate in 3 out of 4 groups of patients.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) down 4.75% to $52.36
Clinical trial data for combination drug Opdivo and Epacadostat demonstrated a durable clinical response in melanoma and head and neck cancer. The results are inconclusive but more that 240 clinical trials are underway for Opdivo in combination with other drugs.
Incyte Corp (INCY) down 5.68% to $124.03
Incyte shares are way off highs of May 25 after releasing clinical trial results over the weekend. The combination dug results were not impressive for Epacadostat in ovarian cancer. Lung cancer data was also being questioned earlier. Combination drug studies with Keytruda for solid tumors look promising.
Puma Biotechnology (PUMA) up 2.07% to $83.65
Positive Phase II data were released for HER2 metastatic breast cancer in patients with brain cancer. This is a win for PUMA Bio over Roche. This is a wild stock up 172% over 30 days on expectation that neratinib will be approved for breast cancer and eventually bring competition to Herceptin leaving Roche (RHHBY) vulnerable.
Roche (RHHBY) down 5.12% to $32.61
Roche combo drug, Herceptin plus Perjeta show only a modest benefit in adjuvant(after surgery) treatment compared to Herceptin alone with much higher costs.
It will take time to digest all of this clinical data and certainly you do not want to be trading any of these stocks post-ASCO. More analysis at a later date.