Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Tesaro (NASDAQ: TSRO) soared 19% today after announcing that it's partnering with Breast International Group (BIG) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) for the phase 3 clinical development of breast cancer treatment niraparib.
So what: Tesaro can now leverage BIG's and EORTC's scientific expertise and network of collaborative groups to accelerate the completion of the phase 3 clinical trial of niraparib, fueling confidence on Wall Street for a relatively quick approval. Specifically, Tesaro will be able to involve key opinion leaders to "optimize the clinical study design, data analyses and publication planning," helping remove a good chunk of the uncertainty surrounding the trial.
Now what: The partnership is expected to open the study to patients during the second half of 2013. "We are very interested in evaluating the potential for niraparib to prolong progression free survival in comparison to commonly used chemotherapy treatments in patients with germline BRCA mutations, and believe that such an advance could be very meaningful for patients," said Dr. Martine Piccart, chair of BIG. Of course, with Tesaro shares now up a whopping 200% over the past year, I'd wait for some of the exuberance to fade before buying into that optimism.
Interested in more info on Tesaro? Add it to your watchlist.
