Health and Healthcare

5 ASCO Winners That Could Still More Than Double

Chris Lange

Published: June 6, 2019 1:35 pm

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 3:59 am

The 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has just concluded, and there were some significant moves we saw as a result. Wedbush took a closer look at some of the companies in its coverage universe that presented at this year’s conference and what the impact may be going forward.

This is known as the world’s largest clinical cancer conference, and it always delivers new results on clinical trials and updated treatments in the field. Not to mention, this conference has the potential to make or break companies in the space, depending on their results and especially going forward.

The theme for this year’s conference was “Caring for Every Patient, Learning From Every Patient,” which focuses on making precision medicine a reality by driving progress and expanding its reach so that every patient can have the opportunity to benefit. This year is estimated to have seen over 32,000 attendees, counting among them the world’s best oncologists, researchers and scientists.

24/7 Wall St. has taken a look at Wedbush’s recent ASCO roundup, and we’ve picked out a few of the companies with the biggest upside potential going forward.

Aravive Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAV) had one presentation at ASCO showing preliminary safety data from three Phase 1/1b dose escalation studies evaluating AB928. As of the cutoff, nine patients had been evaluated for tumor response, with one endometrial cancer patient demonstrating a partial response.

Wedbush has an Outperform rating on it and a $14 price target, implying upside of 142% from the most recent closing price of $5.79.

Shares of Aravive traded up about 3% Thursday to $5.95, in a 52-week range of $3.07 to $15.30. The stock has a consensus price target of $12.00.

CytomX Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CTMX) presented data in a single poster showing data in CX-072. The firm showed confirmed partial responses were observed in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) with an unconfirmed partial response that data cut-off was subsequently confirmed in one patient with anal SCC.

Wedbush detailed in its report:

We summarize the best overall response and waterfall plots from this patient group. Disease control rates of 53% (8/15) in TNBC, 58% (7/12) in anal SCC, 67% (4/6) in cSCC, 25% (5/20) in UPS, and 17% (2/12) in SBA were observed with most patients demonstrating lesion reduction within the first 8-16 weeks of treatment. Durability appeared impressive with responding patients remaining on drug for up to 72 weeks.

The boutique brokerage firm has an Outperform rating and a $25 price target, implying upside of 141% from the most recent closing price of $10.36.

Shares of CytomX were down 2% at $10.11, in a 52-week range of $8.94 to $27.20. The consensus price target is $24.67.

Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX) presented initial monotherapy data from the dose escalation portion of the Phase 1a/1b clinical trial of FPA150 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

In the study, one patient with ovarian cancer, previously treated with seven prior lines of therapy, including anti-PD1 therapy, achieved a confirmed partial response with a duration of 6.2 months. Prolonged stable disease also was demonstrated in a patient with cholangiocarcinoma, and in one patient with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Interestingly, each of these patients was treated at the earlier end of dose-escalation.

Wedbush has an Outperform rating and an $18 price target. The implied upside from the most recent closing price of $6.41 is 181%.

Five Prime traded down 1% at $6.35 a share. The 52-week range is $6.10 to $17.88 and the consensus price target is $25.57.

G1 Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GTHX) provided more data from their randomized Phase 2 study of trilaciclib in (2L/3L) small cell lung cancer patients. Wedbush noted that it remains optimistic on the regulatory outlook and was left encouraged at the last analyst day, when the firm saw opportunity for uptake in the clinic.

G1 also had updated Phase 3 Monaleesa-7 ribociclib data from Novartis in pre- and perimenopausal, HR+/HER- breast cancer patients showed estimated overall survival rates at 42 months were significantly improved in patients when treated with rib + endocrine therapy (ET) (70.2%) compared to patients treated with placebo + ET (46.0%).

Wedbush’s Outperform rating comes with a $67 price target, implying upside of 240% from the most recent closing price of $19.72.

G1 Therapeutics shares were down less than 1% to $19.62, in a 52-week range of $13.87 to $69.57. The consensus analyst target is $69.00.

Mersana Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN) presented interim Phase 1 dose escalation data from its XMT-1536 program in solid tumor patients. Patients in the study had ovarian epithelial, non-squamous lung, endometrial, papillary renal, salivary duct or papillary thyroid cancers. Overall, Wedbush found the outcomes presented as reasonable support for Mersana’s continued investigation of XMT-1536.

Wedbush has an Outperform rating. Its $11 price target implies upside of 176% from the most recent closing price of $3.99.

Shares of Mersana traded at $4.00, in a 52-week range of $2.84 to $20.37. The consensus price target is $10.25.