Cancer drugmakers rise as industry meet fuels investor interest (updated)

ImmunoGen

05/06/2023 15:56

(Adds analysts' comments in paragraphs 4 and 9, G1 Therapeutics
in paragraph 7, Blueprint Medicines in paragraph 9, updates
share movement)
       June 5 (Reuters) - Shares of several cancer drug firms
surged on Monday after the companies reported positive clinical
trial data from their therapies at an ongoing industry
conference in Chicago.
    Day One Bio  DAWN.O , Immunogen Inc  IMGN.O , Evaxion
Biotech A/S  EVAX.O  and G1 Therapeutics Inc  GTHX.O  rose after
presentations at the ongoing annual American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO) meeting. 
        ImmunoGen Inc's experimental drug, Elahere, to treat a
type of ovarian cancer showed 35% reduction in the risk of tumor
progression or death compared to chemotherapy in a late-stage
study. 
    A William Blair note issued on Monday was titled
"Practice-Changing Data Elevate Elahere to Global Stage". The
drugmaker's shares rose nearly 7% to $15.36. 
    Shares of Day One surged 14% to $15.5 after the company's
experimental therapy for a type of brain tumor significantly
reduced tumor in 67% of patients aged over 6 months to 25 years
in a mid-stage study. 
    Shares of Evaxion rose 5.4% to $1.55 after the smaller drug
developer said its vaccine to prevent a type of skin cancer met
safety goals in an early-stage study. 
    Another small biotech company, G1 Therapeutics, rose 7.25%
to $2.81 after its experimental drug to treat a type of breast
cancer increased immune response generating T cell function and
removed any residues of the invasive cancer in a mid-stage
study.  
    On the other hand, Arcus Biosciences Inc  RCUS.N  fell
nearly 9% to $19.13 after updated data on its experimental lung
cancer showed a lower benefit in cutting the risk of disease
progression, compared to earlier data from a mid-stage trial. 
        Shares of Blueprint Medicines Corp  BPMC.O  fell 9.4% to
$52.76 after analysts flagged potential safety issues about its
experimental drug to treat a type of lung cancer.

 (Reporting by Manas Mishra and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
 ((Mariam.ESunny@thomsonreuters.com;))