Dendreon Corporation (DNDN), Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMY): Why Immunotherapy Stocks Could Be Set for a Big Move

Beyond PD-1
One particularly intriguing early-stage abstract that isn’t targeting PD-1 that caught my attention came from Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY) and its advanced malignancy drug, INCB024360. This drug targets and inhibits the IDO1 gene known to be overexpressed in certain cancers. The thesis is that inhibiting IDO1 could improve the body’s autoimmune antitumor response. Although no objective responses were observed in trials, 15 of the 52 patients exhibited stable disease at 56 days with seven of those patients still having a stable disease at 112 days. It should be interesting to see how this experimental drug fares in further studies.

A world of promise
Based on the clinical data I’ve come across so far, I’d certainly say that immunotherapy drugs appear to be in the spotlight heading into ASCO. According to Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), immunotherapy drugs could become the backbone of the cancer industry in a decade with $24 billion in annual sales. It therefore pays to keep an eye on what will be talked about at ASCO, and we at The Motley Fool will be sure to keep you abreast on the latest news from each of these companies.

The article Why Immunotherapy Stocks Could Be Set for a Big Move originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN).

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