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What happened
After reporting results from a midstage clinical trial, shares of Karyopharm Therapeutics (KPTI +2.57%) fell 14% as of 2:50 p.m. ET.
So what
Karyopharm Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech primarily focused on creating products that treat cancer. The company released results today from its phase 2b STORM study, which was testing its lead compound selinexor as a potential treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma.
Results from the 78-patient study showed that selinexor achieved an overall response rate of 20.5% among patients who had previously received either four or five drugs to treat their disease. Based on this data, Karyopharm will be expanding the study and enrolling an additional 120 patients that had previously taken five prior therapies. If that 20% response rate holds up in the expanded study, the company plans on seeking accelerated approved from the Food and Drug Administration. Data from the expanded study is expected in early 2018.
Karyopharm also stated its intentions to move forward a randomized phase 3 trial, called BOSTON, which will investigate selinexor's use in combination with Takeda Pharmaceutical's Velcade and low-dose dexamethasone in patients who had one to three prior lines of therapy. That trial is expected to begin in early 2017.
It's tough to say what data in this report caused the market's negative reaction, so perhaps today's share price action is just being caused by profit-taking on the stock's big gain last week.
Now what
It's great to see that Karyopharm is moving forward with its phase 3 study and also expanding the phase 2b study, but those moves are likely to cause the company's expenses to balloon from here. Last quarter, the company lost more than $30 million, though it did end the period with $166 million in cash. Management believes that should be enough to fund continued clinical development into the middle of 2018.
There will be plenty of data readouts between now and then that will capture investors' attention, but with revenue from product sales still a few years away, Karyopharm Therapeutics' stock is likely to remain highly volatile. That means that only risk-loving investors who like to swing for the fences should consider buying based on today's dip.
