Notes From ASCO 2017: Tesaro, Amgen, Others Report New Data

The 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting is taking place in Chicago from last Friday through Tuesday. There have already been several companies that have updated shareholders with important data at the meeting. Here’s a look at some of the companies that Wall Street is watching.

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• Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc AGIO shares are down 3.0 percent after the company reported data from a Phase I study of AG-120 , for the cholangiocarcinoma dose escalation and expansion cohorts and data from a Phase I study of advanced solid tumors in the ClarIDHy Phase III multicenter, randomized double-blind study of AG-120 in patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma with an IDH mutation. “The data in these presentations support Agios filing AG-120 by year-end and launching in 2018,” Oppenheimer analyst Leah Cann wrote.
• Verastem Inc VSTM shares are down 4.1 percent after the company updated shareholders on its study entitled “Effect of FAK Inhibitor Defactinib on Tumor Immune Changes and Tumor Reductions in a Phase II Window of Opportunity of Malignant Plural Mesothelioma (MPM).” Cann wrote that Oppenheimer is currently not including defactinib in its models for Verastem but that the firm “believe[s] this is a promising compound and believe the data presented at ASCO are not only encouraging, but warrant the study of defactinib in more advanced clinical trials in lung cancers.”
• Exelixis, Inc. EXEL shares are up 0.2 percent after the company presented Phase II data on Cabometyx in patients with recurrent/metastatic endometrial cancer (EC), data on a study of the role of ERBB signaling in RET-rearranged lung cancer and contribution of EGFR amplification to cabozantinib resistance, and Phase I data on cabozantinib plus nivolumab (CaboNivo) and CaboNivo plus ipilimumab (CaboNivoIpi) in patients with refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma and other genitourinary tumors. “Data presented for Exelixis at 2017 ASCO are in indications we have not included in our outlook through 2021, but could provide growth after 2021,” Cann wrote.
• Epizyme Inc EPZM shares are down 3.2 percent after the company released results from a solid tumor study of Tazemetostat. “The data presented on Sunday, June 4, 2017 supports our expectation that Epizyme could launch Tazemetostat in 2018,” Cann wrote.
• Amgen, Inc. AMGN shares are up 0.1 percent after the company released new data from a Phase III study of Xgeva in treatment of multiple myeloma. “We anticipate Xgeva sales will increase to $2.1 billion in 2021 from $1.53 billion in 2016 and will account for 7.8 percent of sales and be the fifth-largest driver of sales growth,” Cann wrote.
• TESARO Inc TSRO shares are down 4.9 percent after the company reported data on its Phase 1/2 TOPACIO combination study of niraparib and Keytruda and its Phase 1 TSR-042 study. “While we continue to believe niraparib has broad applicability and the IO pipeline has potential, with near-term volatility expected around competitive data (ARIEL-3 by end of June), we maintain our Neutral rating,” Baird analyst Michael Ulz wrote.
• Celgene Corporation CELG shares are down 0.8 percent after updating shareholders on data due out by the end of 2017, including RELEVANCE and AUGMENT in IL and relapsed follicular lymphoma, and data due out in 2018, including IMPower130/131 trials testing Abraxane and Tecentriq in NSCLC). “We see potential $600-800mm upside in NSCLC for Abraxane, driven in part by IO combos in IL,” BMO analyst Ian Somaiya wrote.