A Merck drug with potential for best-in-class treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. An early-stage drug from Pfizer that could compete as a breast cancer treatment. A drug from Roche Holding that appears to be an effective treatment for liver cancer. And surprisingly good data from small-scale biotech eFFECTOR Therapeutics in trials of new breast cancer treatments.
These are some of the highlights of the avalanche of new cancer treatment data released late Thursday.
Ahead of the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, which begins June 2 in Chicago, the company has released scientific summaries of papers to be presented at the annual meeting. The gathering is the most important event of the year for scientists studying cancer and pharmaceutical companies developing new cancer treatments.
Shares of the biggest pharmaceutical companies remained largely sluggish after the brief was released as investors and analysts scrambled to make sense of the brief late Thursday and early Friday. Several small-cap biotech stocks surged, but the most notable was Effector (NYSE: EFTR), which surged nearly 30% on Friday.
Below are some early highlights from the abstract and what they mean for pharmaceutical companies.
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Pfizer
Pfizer (PFE) has published more than 40 abstracts on drug trials, including the experimental multiple myeloma drug erlanatamab and Tarzena, which is currently approved for breast cancer.
The company also presented very early data on a new breast cancer drug known as a CDK4 selective inhibitor. This looks promising. TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala wrote on Friday that it looks better than data from competitors in the early stages of development.
Merck
Merck & Co. (MRK) is highlighting new data from a trial of its blockbuster Keytruda and a drug called Lenvima in patients with renal cell carcinoma, which shows that the combination has improved A 21% reduction in the risk of death four years later, it said. An old Pfizer drug called Sutent.
Analysts focused on early data on Merck’s non-small-cell lung cancer drug called MK-2870, a so-called antibody-drug conjugate.Mizuho analyst Mara Goldstein wrote early results look on par with Gilead
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Trodervi of Science (GILD).
effector
eFFECTOR announced positive data from a Phase 2 trial of a three-drug combination containing the new drug zotatifine in patients with metastatic breast cancer. In this study, in a well-pretreated population, 26% of the small treated patient group had a partial response. Stifel analyst Benjamin Barnett said in a note on Thursday that he now believes the drug has a 40% chance of working, up from an earlier estimate of 20%.
“At the current valuation of the stock, [zotatifin] We recommend keeping an eye on future Zota announcements later this year as the stock could outperform on its own,” Burnett wrote.
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eFFECTOR announced Friday that it has sold $7.5 million worth of its common stock in a direct market-price offering to “one healthcare-focused institutional investor.”
Email Josh Nathan-Kazis (josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com).