Health and Healthcare

15 Companies Bracing for Big ASCO Reactions

Chris Lange

Published: June 2, 2017 1:35 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 11:24 am

This year marks the 53rd Annual Meeting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), where biotech and pharmaceutical companies will descend on Chicago for a five-day all-out conference (June 2 to 6) on the development of cancer treatments. 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.

The theme for this year’s conference is making a difference in cancer care with you, which puts emphasis on a more personalized method of treating cancer. This year is expected to see over 30,000 attendees counting among them the world’s best oncologists, researchers and scientists.

Many of the abstracts for ASCO have already been released and stocks have moved in anticipation. However, there are still more abstracts that will be released the day of the presentation.

24/7 Wall St. takes a look at the ASCO annual meeting each year and picks out the companies that could have the biggest boom or bust at the conference.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is reporting more data on executing on I-O/chemo, and an update on the progress with Keytruda+IDO. Data from Keytruda in combination with epacodastat from Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) could be compelling from the Incyte perspective. Keytruda is used in immunotherapy across multiple cancer designations. This particular partnership is being investigated in patients across five tumor types: metastatic melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Shares of Merck were trading at $65.21 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $55.10 to $66.80 and with a consensus analyst price target of $69.30. Over the course of the past month, the stock has risen 4%.

Incyte shares were last seen at $130.06. The stock has a consensus price target of $146.60 and a 52-week range of $71.75 to $153.15. Over the past month, the stock is up 5%.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) focused on ABT-414 in its abstract, and according to analysts early data looks promising, but they are curious for the update that concerns side effects. ABT-414 is designed to be stable in the bloodstream and only release the potent cytotoxic agent once inside targeted cancer cells. In this case it is targeting glioblastoma or malignant tumors affecting the brain or spine.

AbbVie shares were trading at $66.93. The 52-week range is $55.06 to $68.12, and the consensus price target is $72.28. Over the past month, the stock has stayed relatively flat.

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) will be presenting further details on abemaciclib with the MONARCH-2 data in abstract 1000. This study looked at abemaciclib in combination with fulvestrant in patients with HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer who had progressed on prior endocrine therapy.

Shares were trading at $80.43, with a consensus price target of $89.10 and a 52-week range of $64.18 to $86.72. Over the past month, the stock has dropped a little more than 1%.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is looking to provide an update on the Opdibo+Yervoy combination. The abstract given by the company focuses on longer-term follow up from the high-profile combination of Opdivo plus Yervoy from the CheckMate-012 study in 1L NSCLC. The efficacy data in the abstract, however, is essentially the same as last year, with updated data to come at the presentation.

Shares were trading at $54.75, with a 52-week range of $46.01 to $77.12 and a consensus price target of $57.18. Over the past month, the stock has dropped 2%.

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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) and Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) are expected to give out an extended cut of data from REGN2810, which focuses on the treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, or in simpler terms skin cancer. The company plans to begin its Phase 3 in NSCLC in the second half, as well as into a registrational study in this rare skin cancer.

Shares of Regeneron were trading at $482.55, in a 52-week range of $325.35 to $483.28. The consensus price target is $441.05. Over the past month, the stock has risen 20%.

Sanofi shares recently traded at $50.11, with a 52-week range of $36.81 to $50.24 and a consensus analyst target of $51.75. Over past month, the stock has risen 4%.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AGIO) is looking to provide an update on enasidenib for relapsed refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Positive news from this could support approval later this year. Previously, Agios had filed a new drug application (NDA) for R/R AML and PDUFA date is August 30, 2017.

Shares were trading at $48.59, with a consensus price target of $61.89 and a 52-week range of $35.84 to $67.74. The stock has risen 3% in the past month.

BlueBird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) will be presenting updated data from its Phase 1 study of bb2121 in collaboration with Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG). This is another cancer immunotherapy treatment focused on T cell therapies. Data contained in abstract 3010 were as of November 2016 and were previously reported at American Society of Hematology (ASH) in December, showing a 100% overall response rate. The update at ASCO will include six additional months of follow-up, giving important insight into treatment durability, as well as initial data from 10 additional patients.

Shares or Bluebird were trading at $81.35, with a 52-week range of $36.62 to $100.40 and a consensus price target of $94.77. Over the past month, the stock has dropped nearly 8%.

Celgene was trading at $118.07. The consensus price target is $141.88. The 52-week range is $94.42 to $127.64. Over the past month, the stock dipped about 4.6%.

Epizyme Inc. (NASDAQ: EPZM) is presenting updated data at ASCO from its Phase 2 trial of tazemetostat in INI-1 negative solid tumors. Specifically tazemetostat is used in the treatment of hematological malignancies (tumors that affect blood and bone marrow) and genetically defined solid tumors. Recent activity appears promising and potentially supportive of accelerated approval, considering there is no established standard of care in the setting. Updated response rate data from the epithelioid sarcoma cohort is expected at ASCO.

Shares were last seen at $14.52, in a 52-week range of $7.02 to $18.50. The consensus price target is $24.38. Over the past month, the stock has dropped 17%.

Juno Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: JUNO) will report an update from its Transcend study of JCAR017 in non-hodgkin lymphoma. No additional details were reported in the abstract. However, analysts believe that a three-month complete remission rate of about 40% would represent a win, given Kite Pharma’s Zuma-1 data remained relatively unchanged at the 50 patient mark.

Shares were trading at $24.74, with a consensus price target of $31.09 and a 52-week range of $17.52 to $49.72. Over the past month, the stock has dropped 3%.

Kite Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: KITE) is presenting an update from its Zuma-3 study, as well as additional data from the Zuma-1 study in adults with high-burden relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, dealing with blood and breast cancer. At last year’s ASH meeting, Kite reported data for eight evaluable patients in Zuma-3, with three achieving complete remission and three with complete remission with partial hematologic recovery. However, only four patients have ongoing responses, with the longest out to 5.4 months.

Shares were traded at $74.65, in a 52-week range of $39.82 to $88.58 and with a consensus price target of $84.55. Over the course of the past month, the stock has dropped 8.6%.

Merus B.V. (NASDAQ: MRUS) will report the full dataset from the Phase 1 study of HER2 x HER3 MCLA-128. In the abstract, data is reported for 15 patients with HER2 amplified tumors, including eight metastatic breast cancer, four gastric, two ovarian and one colorectal cancer patients. Analysts believe these data are promising, given the heavily pretreated nature of the patients, who had a median of 5.5 prior lines of therapy.

Shares were trading at $21.29. The stock has a 52-week range of $7.25 to $33.63 and a consensus price target of $31.18. Over the past month, the stock has risen 5.5%.

Blueprint Medicines Corp. (NASDAQ: BPMC) will present data from its BLU-285 in the treatment of advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors. This data is expected on June 5.

Shares were trading at $39.26, with a consensus price target of $51.71 and a 52-week range of $17.35 to $48.85. Over the past month, the stock has dropped 16.5%.

Miragen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGEN) will present interim data from its Phase 1 trial of MRG-106 in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). CTCL occurs when certain types of T-cells become cancerous and cause debilitating tumors in the skin and in other parts of the body. MRG-106 is used to treat mycosis fungoides, which is the most common form of a type of blood cancer.

Shares were trading at $10.53, with a 52-week range of $9.42 to $18.00 and a consensus price target of $10.63. Over the past month, the stock has dropped 14%.