What happened
It was a strange day for Clovis Oncology (CLVS +0.00%) as the stock dropped 10.5% early in the day, only to close the day higher than it opened. The stock closed at $2.28 on Thursday but opened at $2.13 per share on Monday. It fell to as low as $2.04 in the early morning hours before rallying. Shortly before 2 p.m., the stock hit a high of $2.36, and it closed at $2.24. Clovis' shares are down more than 15% for the year.
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So what
Clovis has a relatively small market cap of $318 million, so wild swings are not surprising. In 2021, the stock ranged from $2.70 to $10.34 per share. Since then, it has come down. A rumor of a buyout offer or the report of a potential short squeeze is enough to move the needle. The company didn't make any big announcement that would lead to the wild swing.
OTC: CLVS
Key Data Points
Clovis only has one commercial drug, Rubraca (rucaparib), which is approved in certain indications to treat ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, and castration-resistant prostate cancer. Rubraca is an oral, small molecule inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase.
The company has several clinical trials to expand Rubraca's indications, most notably its phase 3 ATHENA-MONO study in which the company saw significant progression-free survival (PFS) rates in ovarian cancer when Rubraca was used as a first-line maintenance treatment. Rubraca showed a median PFS rate of 20.2 months compared to 9.2 months with a placebo. Based on those results, the company said it plans to submit a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) during the second quarter of 2022 and a type II variation to the European Medicines Agency during the third quarter of 2022.
Now what
The pharmaceutical company reported annual revenue in 2021 of $148.7 million, down from $164.5 million in 2020. It did lose less money, however, with an annual earnings per share (EPS) loss of $2.29 compared to an EPS loss of $4.38 in the same period in 2020. A label expansion on Rubraca will be a big help for Clovis as it will bring in more revenue and help the company fund its pipeline that contains two other promising therapies: Lucitanib, an investigational angiogenesis inhibitor that is being tested to fight gynecological cancers; and FAP-2286, a peptide-targeted radionuclide therapy used to target fibroblast activation proteins that are common in certain cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, salivary gland, mesothelioma, colon, bladder, sarcoma, squamous non-small cell lung cancer, and head and neck cancers as well as in cancers of unknown primary. The company has solid long-term prospects, but in the short term, expect its share price to remain volatile.