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.
Category: Leukemia
Old Cancer Drug Gets 1,000%-Plus Price Hike in Frugal U.K.
The chemotherapy known as busulfan is more than six decades old, and part of doctors’ standard arsenal against leukemia. It’s not scarce, and by all accounts, it should be dirt cheap.
Johnson & Johnson’s Most Exciting Opportunity
Can cancer drug sales continue to soar? Here’s why cancer drugs could be Johnson & Johnson’s most exciting opportunity in 2017. Global spending on cancer drugs eclipsed $100 billion two years ago, and aging and longer-living populations worldwide have IMS Health projecting that global spending on cancer medicine could hit $150 billion in 2020.
Japan’s Takeda buys US cancer specialist Ariad for $5.2bn
Takeda’s offer is valued at more than 75% above Ariad’s closing share price on Friday – but some analysts says a rival bid cannot be ruled out. Cancer drugs are appealing to large pharmaceutical firms, who are prepared to pay high prices for companies with promising products in the pipeline.
Seattle Genetics Plunges After Drug Studies Halted on Deaths
Seattle Genetics Inc. plunged the most in five years after U.S. regulators halted several early-stage blood cancer studies following the deaths of four patients who suffered from liver damage. The Food and Drug Administration halted the trials testing Seattle Genetics’s acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, therapy, called SGN-CD33A.