What happened
Clovis Oncology (CLVS) had a fine Tuesday, with its share price rising by almost 5% to beat the performance of many other biotech stocks, not to mention the S&P 500 index. A new deal announced by a partner of the company that will, hopefully, advance a top Clovis pipeline therapy was behind the stock's pop today.
So what
That client, privately held NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, announced Tuesday morning that it has signed a long-term supply agreement with Clovis. NorthStar will provide its actinium-225 (Ac-225) therapeutic medical radioisotope to Clovis.
This supply will be used by Clovis in its pipeline drug candidate FAP-2286. This is described by the company as "a peptide-targeted radionuclide therapy (PTRT) and imaging agent targeting fibroblast activation protein (FAP)."
PTRT is a precision therapy in which certain molecules are combined with therapeutic radioisotopes to deliver small doses of cancer-cell-killing radiation. According to NorthStar, its Ac-225 has enough radiation to carry out this lethal work, yet its half-life limits unwanted radioactivity in the body.
Now what
It's still somewhat early days for FAP-2286, for which Clovis is currently enrolling participants in a phase 1/2 clinical trial. Regardless, securing a supply of an important component gives the company and its investors one less item to worry about, and indicates that the program continues its advance through the development pipeline.
Clovis investors are hungry for good news, after the general decline in biotech stocks pushed the former highflier's price down significantly earlier this month. This is probably not the start of a bounce-from-the-bottom rally for Clovis, as the market remains cautious. Still, it's a positive development for the company.
