The first new data out of ASCO, which officially started this Friday afternoon, took Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) down 7% late in the trading session
For biotech investors who are used to volatility, that might not sound like a lot. But for the massive BMS, it’s $8 billion in market value. Why? ASCO released a handful of late breaker abstracts at 2:00 ET, including the abstract for Bristol-Myer’s phase III CheckMate -057 trial, testing the PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo (nivolumab) against the chemotherapy docetaxel in non–squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Investors have already seen data from CheckMate -017, in the squamous population, where Opdivo outperformed docetaxel even in patients with low PD-L1 expression.
That wasn’t the case in CheckMate -057. Patients with low or no PD-L1 expression performed similarly when receiving docetaxel OR the newer checkpoint inhibitor (OS Hazard Ratios of .9 to 1.01), raising questions about where/when the drug might be used in this setting. Shares of Merck (MRK), which develops the competing Keytruda (pembolizumab) and a companion diagnostic, initially moved higher on the news. Roche has a similar product as well, and investors jumped to the conclusion Friday that BMY isn’t a shoe-in as the leader in this 2nd-line NSCLC setting.
On the other end of the spectrum, initial data from CA209-040, BMY’s trial of Opdivo in previously-treated patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, were encouraging. As of the interim analysis, 62% of patients in the study were still alive after one year, and eight (19%) of the 42 evaluable patients achieved a complete or partial response. The drug worked in patients with HCV or HBV infections, too.
Also this week, we published a look at the current state of affairs in biotech, with a brief explainer on why so many investors use the iShares’ Nasdaq Biotechnology Index-tracking ETF, IBB, as opposed to other biotech/pharma indexes. Read on, here.
GlobeImmune’s (GBIM) GS-4774, an immunotherapy directed towards Hepatitis B and partnered with Gilead Sciences (GILD), failed its first sizable mid-stage study early this week. The stock dropped 50%.
We’ve been writing about GBIM off and on for the last half-year as an under-the-rader HBV stock. Our call – to take profit at ~$10.00 and an 80% gain earlier this year – in order to ride through the event risk-free was clearly the right move. Learn why we were weary of this high-risk event in our previous coverage. And, sign up for PropThink Premium yourself for just $49.
