Biotech Stock Mailbag: Puma’s Rebound Explained, TG Therapeutics Approval Debate, Aurinia Next Steps

This week’s Biotech Stock Mailbag will address some current controversies and burning questions in our little corner of the investment world. Why the hell is Puma Biotechnology trading higher after the successful readout of Roche’s “APHINITY’ study of Perjeta in adjuvant breast cancer? What are the arguments for and against TG Therapeutics securing approval for ublituximab in high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia ? Did Aurinia Pharmaceuticals make a change to the primary endpoint of its phase III study of voclosporin in lupus nephritis? Are regulators okay with it? The March 2 announcement by Roche that Perjeta met the primary endpoint in the APHINITY study caused Puma shares to fall from $38 to an intraday low of $29.

Roche’s Perjeta Succeeds in Key Aphinity Breast Cancer Study

Roche Holding AG’s breast cancer medicine Perjeta succeeded in the drugmaker’s most hotly anticipated patient study, bolstering a franchise that could exceed $9 billion in sales by 2021. Patients who took Perjeta alongside chemotherapy and Roche’s own Herceptin drug after surgery for early breast cancer had a reduced risk of dying or seeing their breast tumors return than those on the older treatments alone, the Swiss drugmaker said in a statement Thursday.