Genmab Shares Climb After Positive Study Results for Blood-Cancer Drug
Shares in Genmab were up 8.3% in European morning trading
- Genmab shares jumped after the company and partner AbbVie said their Epkinly drug helped extend survival without disease progression in a trial.
- The late-stage clinical trial showed that the drug combination reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 51%.
- Genmab and AbbVie said they would discuss next steps with global regulatory authorities based on the results of the trial
Genmab GMAB 7.40%increase; green up pointing triangle shares jumped after the biotechnology company and partner AbbVie ABBV 1.12%increase; up pointing triangle said their Epkinly drug helped extend the time patients with a common type of lymphoma lived without the disease getting worse in a late-stage clinical trial.
Shares in Genmab were up 8.3% in European morning trading Tuesday, taking their year-to-date gain to 27%.
The Danish company and AbbVie said their drug, added to the standard treatment, showed a meaningful improvement in the survival rate without disease progression compared with the standard of care alone in a study that enrolled newly diagnosed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The risk of disease progression or death was reduced by 51% in the study, the companies said. The drug combination was generally well tolerated, they added.
Genmab and AbbVie said they would discuss next steps with global regulatory authorities based on the results of the trial.
“While treatment advances have improved outcomes for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, options for newly diagnosed patients remain limited, reinforcing the need for additional therapies that can treat as many patients as possible in the frontline setting,” Genmab Chief Executive Jan van de Winkel said.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan said in a note to clients the results of the trial were well above expectations, though more detailed data would be required to fully understand the commercial opportunity.
The data likely supports the potential for the combination of Epkinly and the standard of care to change the front-line treatment paradigm for the disease, analysts at Jefferies said.
Genmab and AbbVie jointly developed Epkinly, which is already approved in certain lymphoma indications in more than 65 countries, as part of their oncology collaboration.