Making A Big Entrance Into The Cancer Space
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is widely considered the most transcendent pharma company in the sector. It has gained this reputation by developing drugs that are far greater than anything else on the market for the treatment of hepatitis C and HIV. Now, the company is trying its luck in oncology — with its development of idelalisab for patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
On average, patients that qualify for idelalisad have tried and failed five other treatments. Any drug that succeeds where so many other therapies have failed must be remarkable indeed.
And while idelalisad’s study on CLL is only in Phase 1, its abstract for the study showed that patients saw a 56% rate of tumor shrinkage, and that 81% had a lymph node response. This is very important, considering that all forms of leukemia attack lymph nodes.
Many expect that because of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)’s success in HIV and hepatitis C, that it will one day be just as successful in developing products to treat cancer. Idelalisad is its first attempt, but will be closely monitored on Wall Street, especially since the company’s also developing the same drug as a treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and non-Hodgkins lymphoma, other types of cancer.
An Under-The-Radar Company To Watch
While big pharma is all set to dominate this year’s ASCO, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) offers a small-cap option for biotech hunters.
Trading at a market cap of $830 million, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) has a candidate, PEGPH20, that is turning heads with its efficiency against the most deadly forms of cancer known to man: stage IV metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Again, the drug is only a Phase 1 candidate — but it has already announced data showing a 42% response rate. The company also announced that it is now advancing into Phase 2 studies for PEGPH20 in combination with chemotherapy.
Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) is still several years from having PEGPH20 approved, but is lucky enough to have more than $100 million in cash and partnerships with the likes of Baxter, Pfizer, and Roche. Overall, I say this is a promising under-the-radar company worth watching.
Conclusion
As an investor who has covered biotechnology for the last eight years, I can’t remember when ASCO was more dominated by large cap pharma companies, instead of small-cap players.
With that said, I consider this year just as exciting as any year of the past, since we could see the birth of new blockbuster products like past successes Herceptin and Avastin. Just because large companies are announcing data, that doesn’t mean their drugs won’t produce gainst for shareholders. In five years, it is very possible that we’ll look back on this year’s ASCO as the start of a new era with blockbuster products. That’s an era I don’t want to miss.
The article 3 Stocks to Watch Ahead of ASCO originally appeared on Fool.com.
Brian Nichols is long GILD. The Motley Fool recommends Gilead Sciences. Brian is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
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