
Rigel surges as FDA waives panel; Troubled Endocyte looks for comeback following $12M licensing deal; Seattle Genetics scores a ‘breakthrough’
→ Shares of Rigel Therapeutics $RIGL bounded up about 20% this morning after the biotech reported that the FDA has no plans to call an expert panel together to review fostamatinib in patients with chronic or persistent immune thrombocytopenia. The FDA also has indicated that it expects to hit its April 17, 2018, PDUFA deadline for a decision. There are no guarantees, of course, but that’s all generally considered positive.
→ Four months after back-to-back setbacks forced Endocyte $ECYT to slash its staff and reorganize, the little biotech is back with an in-licensing deal that it hopes will revive its fortunes. The biotech spent $12 million up front to in-license PSMA-617, a radioligand therapeutic for castration-resistant prostate cancer, from ABX GmbH. Endocyte also handed over 2 million shares.
→ Bothell, WA-based Seattle Genetics $SGEN was boosted on the news that the FDA has handed out its breakthrough therapy designation for Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with chemotherapy for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
→ Seres Therapeutics — which has had some considerable trouble forming a good first impression — stumbled out of the gate this morning, looking to highlight some positive, dose-dependent results from an early stage study of their microbiome therapy SER-287 for ulcerative colitis. The original release didn’t quite get the data right, and there was plenty of buzzing on Twitter about the role vancomycin may have played in gaining a response. Bottom line: the stock $MCRB was down a couple of points in the turmoil.