Aptevo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: APVO) is flying in the market this morning, and for good reason. The company announced that its experimental cancer treatment has led to a complete remission. Here’s what’s going on:
Stop wasting your time! Start finding winning trades in minutes with Trade Ideas!
APVO Stock Rockets On Complete Remission
In the press release, Aptevo Therapeutics announced an update surrounding an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of an experimental drug known as APVO436. The treatment is a novel anit-CD123 x anti-CD3 targeted investigational biospecific antibody therapy.
In the clinical study, APVO is evaluating the drug as a potential option for both acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The study is a Phase 1/1b open-lable, dose-escalation study with the goal of evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of the treatment.
Here’s the exciting news:
In the press release, the company said that one of the patients in the clinical trial has achieved a complete remission. The cohort 6 patient saw a decrease in bone marrow blasts after the first cycle of treatment. After the second cycle of treatment, the patient achieved 0% bone marrow blasts. Moreover, the patients platelet count and absolute neutrophil count met complete remission criteria.
All in all, the experimental treatment was given to a patient that was fighting a devastating cancer. Following two cycles of treatment, the patient went into full remission and is now cancer free. There’s no better outcome one could expect.
In a statement, Marvin White, President and CEO at APVO, had the following to offer:
We are greatly encouraged by the complete remission in the patient in cohort 6, which is a wonderful outcome for them. We are now in a critical phase of the study, as pharmacokinetic modelling suggests that dosing in cohorts 5 through 8 is in a therapeutic range, which could result in potential clinical activity of the drug. We look forward to continuing the dose escalation and monitoring potential clinical responses as we advance through the upcoming dose cohorts.
This Is Huge News
The news released by Aptevo Therapeutics this morning proved to be overwhelmingly positive. First and foremost, reaching complete remission in AML or MDS is a massive win as these are some of the most difficult cancers to treat. However, when you look at the numbers, the opportunity really begins to come into view.
First and foremost, it is expected that by 2024, the AML market will grow to be worth more than $17 billion per year. By 2022, the MDS market is expected to grow to be worth $2.4 billion annually. APVO has a market cap of about $23 million. Tapping into just a small percentage of either of these massive markets would generate meaningful revenue for the company.
With the treatment leading to a complete remission in early stages of testing, there’s a lot of promise here, and with the current market cap of APVO stock, the opportunity here is hard to ignore.
Stop wasting your time! Start finding winning trades in minutes with Trade Ideas!