Cyclacel Drops After Study Supporting Cancer Drug's Mechanism Of Action

Penny stock Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc CYCC was sinking lower Tuesday after the nanocap biotech's announcement concerning a paper published by independent investigators in the Journal of Clinical Oncology regarding the protein expression and efficacy of a drug to treat HR-positive and HER-negative breast cancer.

What Happened

Cyclacel said the study findings identified overexpression of the protein cyclin E1 as being responsible for breast cancer escaping the effect of Pfizer Inc. PFE's palbociclib — a CDK4/6 inhibitor —plus fulvestrant.

How does this finding help Cyclacel? Cyclacel's clinical-stage candidate CYC065, its second-gen CDK2/9 inhibitor, targets CDK2/cyclin E complex and is proposed as a potential therapeutic option to prevent early progression on CDK4/6 inhibitor.

After rising as high as 24 percent intraday Monday, the stock gave back all its gains and ended flat at 95 cents.

Why It's Important

Cyclacel has initiated a Phase 1 trial evaluating its CYC065 in combination with venetoclax in patients with relapsed/refractor CLL, while it reported data from a Phase 1 Part 1 study of CYCO65 as a monotherapy in advanced solid tumors at a conference in 2018.

At last check, Cyclacel shares were sliding 7.8 percent to 88 cents.

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