June 26, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Biotech stocks have been doing well this year. The S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index shows a steady climb this year, particularly in the last two weeks. It currently is reporting $6,231.71. Keith Speights, writing for The Motley Fool, looks at the top five biotech stocks so far this year.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced new interim results from Part C, cohorts 1-3, of its ongoing Phase I trial of givosiran, an RNAi therapeutic that targets aminolevulinic acid synthase 1 (ALAS1) to treat acute hepatic porphyrias. Early results suggest the drug can prevent porphyria attacks in patients with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) suffering with recurrent attacks.
Company stock has grown more than 120 percent this year so far. Speights writes, “The biggest catalyst for Alnylam came from bad news for a potential competitor. Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported late-stage clinical results for inotersen that revealed some troubling side effects of the drug. Like inotersen, Alnylam’s patisiran targets transthyretin (TTR) amyloidosis. The biotech expects to announce results from a late-stage study of patisiran soon.”
Alnylam is currently trading for $81.88.
Based in Los Angeles, Puma Biotechnology focuses on cancer drugs, usually by in-licensing innovative drug candidates. On June 3, Puma announced positive data from an ongoing Phase II trial of PB272 (neratinib) for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain.
The company’s shares have risen almost 180 percent this year. Speights says, “The tremendous spike this year stemmed from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) releasing documents ahead of an advisory committee to review Puma’s experimental breast cancer drug neratinib. Those documents didn’t give glowing comments to neratinib, but they weren’t negative, either. Investors thought the neutral tone hinted at a positive recommendation by the committee—and they were right. A couple of days later, the FDA advisory committee recommended neratinib for approval by a vote of 12-4.”
Puma 8 is currently trading for $87.45.
Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., ImmunoGen focuses on developing antibody-drug conjugate therapeutics for cancer. Today, the company presented data from an ongoing Phase I trial of IMGN779 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The drug showed good safety and tolerability across seven dose levels with no dose limiting toxicities. It also showed evidence of dose-dependent biological and anti-leukemia activity.
Company stock had grown around 180 percent since the beginning of 2017. The jump is related to the company’s presentation of trial data at two conferences, but in particular the increase came in April when analysts upgraded the stock. Speights writes, “Perhaps the best news for the biotech was its announcement in May of encouraging data to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for mirvetuximab soravtansine in treating ovarian cancer.”
ImmunoGen is currently trading at $6.33.
Based in Richmond, Calif., Sangamo Therapeutics focuses on gene therapy and genome editing. On June 21, the company announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 10 million shares of its common stock at the public price of $7.25 per share.
Speights notes that stock grew 200 percent so far this year. “A change in strategy has put Sangamo back in the gene-editing limelight,” Speights writes. “The biotech’s adeno-associated viruses (AAV) gene-therapy platform caught the eye of big pharmaceutical company Pfizer , which is also developing drugs using AAV.”
The two companies announced a collaboration deal for hemophilia A drug SB-525 in May.
Sangamo is currently trading for $9.50.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Calithera Biosciences was recently dubbed the “best-in-breed” in biotech stocks. The company focuses on discovering and developing small molecule drugs against tumor metabolism and tumor immunology. On June 7, Calithera announced the FDA had granted Fast Track designation to its CB-839 in combination with everolimus as a treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma in patients who have received two or more prior lines of therapy. It also recently signed a collaboration and license deal with Incyte (INCY) for Calithera’s CB-1158.
In the last six months, Calithera stock has grown more than 340 percent. In addition to the Incyte deal, it expanded its collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb for CB-839 in combination with Bristol-Myers’ Opdivo in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma.
Calithera is currently trading for $14.95.
