Arqule (ARQL) had a quiet 2011 with only two meaningful events, both occurring in January: Initiation of phase III in lung cancer and a public offering. With respect to clinical data, the last meaningful data set was announced in March 2010 in the form of positive phase II results in lung cancer for Arqule’s lead agent, tivantinib (ARQ197). Almost two years later, Arqule returns to investors with more good news, this time in liver cancer. Actual data will be announced only at ASCO in June, however, the limited information provided by the company already positions tivantinib as one of the most promising agents in development for liver cancer. Read the rest of this entry »
Earlier this week, AVEO (AVEO) announced topline results from a phase III trial for tivozanib in renal cancer. Although technically the trial met its primary endpoint and could probably lead to approval, results were far from satisfactory. Read the rest of this entry »
The annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) was concluded last week and provided investors a peek into the future of blood cancer treatment. Below are 5 companies that presented promising data that could change the therapeutic landscape in the coming years. Read the rest of this entry »
As far as personalized medicine goes, it doesn’t get any sweeter than Pfizer’s (PFE) Xalkori. As the industry is moving away from a “one size fits all” model to personalized medicine, this drug sets an enviable example of how to get fast approval for a lucrative niche indication by selecting the right patients. Hailed as the poster child of personalized medicine, Xalkori is currently approved for lung cancer patients whose tumors have rare mutations in the protein ALK, which occurs in ~4% of non-small cell lung cancer cases. Read the rest of this entry »
Exelixis (EXEL) saw its share price cut in half last week, due to a regulatory setback. Based on what others have published and questions I received there appears to be some confusion with respect to the implications for the company. I decided to address this issue using a questions and answers format, based on the many inquiries I received. Hope this format sheds some light on the situation.
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Developing oncology drugs is getting harder and harder. The rising regulatory hurdles, the constant flow of new agents and competition for trial participants all make getting a drug to market a formidable challenge. This is particularly true in drugs for blood cancers, a field that saw tremendous progress in the past decade and is becoming very crowded. As a result, even highly effective drugs require long and expensive studies with active regimens in the control arm and survival as an endpoint. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week BMS (BMY) increased its stake in BMS-936558 (formerly MDX-1106) by regaining worldwide marketing rights for the drug except in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This was the result of a deal with Ono Pharmaceutical, who originally held ex-US rights for the drug. In return, Ono received marketing rights for Orencia, a BMS drug for Rheumatoid arthritis which is already in the market. BMS’ decision to exchange its stake in a product with real sales in return for a candidate in mid stage clinical development might seem odd at first glance, but a quick look at BMS-936558’s data is enough to understand the deal was a brilliant move.
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It is hard to be neutral on Exelixis’ lead drug - people either love it or hate it. The drug, cabozantinib, got investors and researchers scratching their heads after showing mind boggling activity against bone metastases. The drug led to partial or complete resolution of bone scans in a substantial portion of patients with cancer, including prostate, breast and lung cancer. To my knowledge, this extent of activity has never been observed with approved anti-cancer drugs, all of which rarely affect bone mets. Read the rest of this entry »
Dendreon’s (DNDN) recent meltdown already sent shockwaves throughout the entire biotech arena but one segment which could suffer the most is cancer vaccine companies. Dendreon’s Provenge, the first and only cancer vaccine approved by the FDA, made cancer immunotherapy very popular in the eyes of investors, who were looking for the next Dendreon among the tens of clinical stage cancer vaccine companies.
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Immunogen becomes a $1B company
Immunogen (IMGN) concluded the week with a market cap of ~$1B, up 200% in less than a year. This valuation is quite unusual for a company that ascribes the vast majority of its value from a 3-5% royalty stake in a single drug - Roche’s T-DM1. T-DM1, which utilizes Immunogen’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology, comprises of Herceptin conjugated to a drug payload. It is in two phase III trials and multiple phase II studies in breast cancer. If proven effective, many believe T-DM1 will eventually replace Herceptin, at least in certain treatment lines.
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