3 Biotechs With Positive Technical Stock Readouts Ahead of Q2 Reports
July 26, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Most public companies are reporting their second quarter earnings right about now. Here are three biotech companies that, according to Harry Boxer, writing for MarketWatch, are showing strong technical data ahead of their earnings reports.
1. Exelixis
Headquartered in South San Francisco, Exelixis recently announced it had started a Phase III clinical trial of Bristol-Myers Squibb ’s Opdivo (nivolumab) in combination with its Cabometyx (cabozantinib) versus Opdivo and BMY’s Yervoy (ipilimumab) with Cabometyx in previously untreated, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
The company is developing cabozantinib broadly. Based on results of a Phase II trial in October 2016, it plans to submit a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for first-line advanced RCC in the third quarter of this year.
Boxer writes that Exelixis stock gained 90 percent this year. He writes, the company “extended out of its bull wedge consolidation pattern, gaining 88 cents to close at $28.11 on 3.8 million shares traded Monday. That’s the highest price the stock has reached since October 2000.”
The company will release second quarter financials on Wednesday, August 2.
Exelixis is currently trading for $27.88.
2. ImmunoGen
Based in Waltham, Mass., ImmunoGen released data on June 26 from its ongoing Phase I trial of IMGN779 in patients with relapsed or refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) whose tumors express CD33. The trial demonstrated safety and tolerability across seven dose levels, showed no dose limiting toxicities, and also showed biological and anti-leukemia activity.
Noting that the company’s stock closed up 12 percent yesterday without the incentive of any particular news, Brian Orelli, writing for The Motley Fool, wrote, “Today’s move, like so many in the past, is just noise in the bigger long-term picture for ImmunoGen. While partnered drugs offer some potential benefit to ImmunoGen, most of the biotech’s valuation lies in its wholly owned mirvetuximab soravtansine. Investors should be focused on the drug’s Phase III trial, called FORWARD I, which is currently enrolling patients, and how the company is generating cash toward paying for the trial.”
Boxer writes, the company “snapped back Monday to $6.34, up 68 cents, or 12 percent, on 4.3 million shares traded. The stock bounced off the bottom of its rising channel as well as its 50-day moving average after having pulled back from its channel top in the last three weeks.”
The company will release second quarter financial data on Friday, July 28.
ImmunoGen is currently trading for $6.30.
3. Impax Laboratories
Headquartered in Hayward, Calif., announced that it received an AB therapeutic equivalent rating and final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic version of Concerta Extended-Release tablets.
Boxer notes that the news pushed the company’s stock up. Share price, he writes, “is on the move, having recently broken out of a head-and-shoulders bottoming pattern. The stock closed at $18.75, up 60 cents, a 3.3 percent, on 1.5 million shares traded and no news, and is now up more than 40 percent off its mid-June low of $13.25.”
The company plans to release second quarter financials on August 9.
Impax Laboratories is currently trading for $19.25.