Biotech Values

[olddogwithnewtrix]

Ibrutinib looks pretty spectacular. RA and possibly lupus, they are playing their cards tight with the auto immune stuff. I think they will announce something about that within the next few months. Lots of meat on this bone, 50 seems like easy money.

Jeffrey A. Jones, MD, MPH
At the 16th Annual International Congress on Hematologic Malignancies held in February in Snowbird, Utah, Jeffrey A. Jones, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Hematology at The Ohio State University, summarized results of recent trials investigating novel therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

PCI-32765 is an oral inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), a downstream component of the B cell receptor signaling pathway. Sixtyone patients with relapsed/refractory CLL have been treated to date in a phase Ib study. Diarrhea was the most common adverse event, and rates of severe cytopenias were relatively low. As with GS-1101, there was a rapid nodal response in the majority of patients, accompanied by mobilization of lymphocytes from sanctuary sites into the peripheral blood.

According to Jones, “With continued exposure of the drug, many of these nodal responses will gradually convert to a more overt conventional response.” In addition, he said, “There’s a pretty significant benefit with respect to recovery of cytopenias very early on after initiation of therapy along with resolution of constitutional symptoms.”