From biomedreports:
not exactly sugar-coating ARIAD's situation but does call the company "well-financed" noting Sarissa among funds accumulating after big drop.
Emphasizes that eyes will be on the Monday night presentations.
ARIAD wouldn't be participating if it didn't expect them to be positive.
2 Pharmas Presenting at 55th ASH Meeting
By Brian Wilson-Lead Contributor
Sunday, 17 November 2013 23:22
As a close follower of the hematologic cancer developers, I wanted to point out the following important data releases that are scheduled for the upcoming 55th annual American Society of Hematology Meeting – to be held December 7-10, 2013 in New Orleans.
Iclusig Analysis - Ariad Pharmaceuticals
Ariad is a late stage cancer drug developer that is currently trading at a market cap of $462 M, which is the result of a YTD loss of 87%. When the company was worth over $3 B (just a few weeks ago), the valuation of the company was primarily based on a cancer drug Iclusig (ponatinib) which was approved by the FDA for the use in two blood cancer indications - CML, and Ph+ ALL.
Investors remain terrified of any exposure to the blood cancer drug ponatinib after the disastrous safety result of the PACE trial and the subsequent suspension of US marketing rights by the FDA. While the drug is in very hot water due to its association with increased risk of blood clotting, the company will be presenting some data at ASH that could help us clarify the risk/reward of ponatinib and possibly offer a chance at salvation for Ariad.
In particular, we may want to pay attention to a presentation that will discuss the clinical implications of ponatinib dose reduction and/or interruption. A Phase II trial showed that there is a direct correlation between dosage and cancer response rates, although benefit was shown at lower doses as well. This presentation will occur on the evening of Monday, December 9th.
The company is well financed, and may try ponatinib for the currently approved indications at a lower dose. Also note that it is undergoing development for a number of similar blood cancer indications, and the company will be presenting data from those programs as well. This may explain why certain funds, like Sarissa, have been accumulating the stock after the big plunge.
AI
