Incyte Corporation (INCY), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Pop-Worthy Data, Incyte, but Let’s See More

Reading between the lines, it appears that Jakafi isn’t extending survival by all that much when you look median survival. It’s possible that there’s a subgroup of the subgroup that responds really well, which drives up the six-month survival but hardly moves the median survival.

That’s potentially still meaningful — most patients with advanced pancreatic cancer live less than a year — but without the full data, it’s just speculation.

The big tell
These questions will eventually be answered, most likely when the full data is presented at a medical meeting or when the protocol for the phase 3 trial is disclosed.

But investors might get an idea of the strength of the data before that from Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY)’s partner Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS), which can opt in to pay for the expanded indication. The pharma will presumably get to see a lot more data than we have in the press release. Novartis opting in would be a good sign that knowledgeable people think the data is strong enough to pursue further.

The article Pop-Worthy Data, Incyte, but Let’s See More originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Orelli has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Gilead Sciences. 

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