The Daily Biotech Pulse: ASCO Presentations From Roche, Celgene & More, Edwards Recommends Rejection Of Mini-Tender Offer

Down In The Dumps

(Biotech stocks hitting 52-week lows on June 3)

• Arcus Biosciences Inc RCUS
• Abeona Therapeutics Inc ABEO
• Aduro BioTech Inc ADRO(reacted to ASCO presentation on its Phase 1b data for ADU-S100)
• Akers Biosciences Inc AKER
• Aldeyra Therapeutics Inc ALDX
• BIOLINERX LTD/S ADR BLRX
• Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. CLDX(reacted to ASCO presentation on CDX-3379)
• Cerus Corporation CERS
• ContraVir Pharmaceuticals CTRV(began trading on a reverse split-adjusted basis)
• Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc CYCN
• CytRx Corporation CYTR
• Dynavax Technologies Corporation DVAX
• Evogene Ltd EVGN
• Five Prime Therapeutics Inc FPRX(reacted to ASCO presentation of Phase 1a/1b clinical trial of FPA150 in patients with advanced solid tumors)
• Kindred Biosciences Inc KIN
• Myovant Sciences Ltd MYOV
• Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc PRTK
• RA Medical Systems Inc RMED
• Sierra Oncology Inc SRRA(reacted to presentation on data from Phase 1/2 studies of SRA737 at the ASCO)
• Trillium Therapeutics Inc TRIL
• Xenetic Biosciences Inc XBIO

Stock In Focus

Roche's Flu Medicine Found Effective As Preventative Treatment In Late-Stage Study

Roche Holdings AG Basel ADR RHHBY unit Genentech said the Phase 3 study dubbed BLOCKSTONE met its primary endpoint, showing people exposed to a household member with influenza and treated preventatively with Xofluza were significantly less likely to develop the disease compared to those treated with placebo. The pipeline asset was also well tolerated with no safety signals identified.

Edwards Lifesciences Recommends Against TRC's Mini-tender Offer

Edwards Lifesciences Corp EW said its board has recommended against an unsolicited mini-tender offer by TRC Capital to buy up to 1 million shares or 0.48 percent of its outstanding shares. TRC offered $162.38 for each of Edwards shares, which is below the current price, the company noted.

Merck, AstraZeneca Say Ovarian Cancer Drug Found Effective In Patients With Certain Gene Mutation

Merck & Co., Inc. MRK and AstraZeneca plc AZN announced full Phase 3 results of the study dubbed SOLO3, which evaluated Lynparza relative to chemotherapy for the treatment of platinum-sensitive relapsed patients with germline BRCA1/2-mutated advanced ovarian cancer, who have received two more prior lines of chemotherapy, which showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in objective response rate, or ORR.

The results presented at ASCO showed a 72.2 percent improvement for the treatment arm compared to 51.4 percent for chemotherapy. The secondary endpoint of progression-free survival also improved in Lynparza-treated patients.

On The Radar

ASCO Presentations

Roche – Phase 3 overall survival data for Tecentriq plus nab-paclitaxel (triple-negative breast cancer)

MacroGenics Inc MGNX – detailed Phase 3 data for Margetuximab (metastatic breast cancer)
Roche & AbbVie Inc ABBV - Phase 3 data for Venclexta plus Gazyva (chronic lympocytic leukemia)

Celgene Corporation CELG – updated Phase 1 data for Liso-cel (chronic lymphocytic leukemia)

Puma Biotechnology Inc PBYI – already-released Phase 3 data for Neratinib (third-line HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer)

Atara Biotherapeutics Inc ATRA – Phase 1 data for autologous T cells (malignant pleural disease)

TG Therapeutics Inc TGTX – Phase 2/3 MZL cohort data for TG-1101 and TGR-1202 (non-Hodgkin lymphoma)