As part of their weekly show, Biotech Banter, Fool contributor Brian Orelli and health-care bureau chief Max Macaluso occasionally run a segment highlighting a biotech. This week's honor goes to Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO -0.63%), which IPOed last year.
The company zoomed up 28% on Monday after presenting positive data on its cancer drug AG-221 at the American Association for Cancer Research over the weekend. In a small Phase 1 trial, six of seven evaluable patients with acute myeloid leukemia responded to AG-221, including three complete remissions and two complete remissions with incomplete platelet recovery. That's pretty amazing, considering these patients had already failed previous treatments.
Agios' pipeline is in the relatively early stages, with a couple of products, including AG-221, licensed to Celgene (CELG). To justify its $1.4 billion market cap, the drugs will have to work in later-stage trials, but so far everything looks promising.
Watch the following video for Brian's and Max's takes on Agios Pharmaceuticals.
