What happened
Agenus (AGEN 4.39%) opened at $2.65 then rose to a high of $2.93 in the early afternoon. The stock has a 52-week low of $1.25 and a 52-week high of $6.79. The pharmaceutical company focuses on finding therapies to treat cancer and infections by activating the body's immune response. Its stock is down more than 12% this year but is up more than 42% over the past three months.
So what
Agenus' shares have been rising in response to positive data regarding the company's lead therapy, botensilimab. The company said that in a phase 1b study, botensilimab, plus another Agenus drug, balstilimab, showed a strong response rate in patients with microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer. That makes nine different types of cancer that botensilimab has shown to be effective against in clinical studies, the company said.
An effective breakthrough drug to fight colon cancer would be a big deal as it is the fourth most common cancer in men and women and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The aging of the U.S. population will likely increase the number of patients with colon cancer, and that provides a big opportunity for any new drug that can fight colon cancer. Avastin (bevacizumab), sold by Roche, even with growing biosimilar competition, brought in $1.42 billion in revenue in the first half of the year.
Now what
The pharmaceutical company reported revenue of $26 million in the first quarter, up 116% year over year, but an overall loss of $51 million. With $263 million in cash, the company has enough to fund operations, at its current burn rate, for six quarters. The company said it has implemented cost-cutting plans that may extend that, but the company will likely need an infusion of cash soon, either by selling more stock or through greater collaboration revenue. The potential for botensilimab, however, gives the company financing options and the potential for greater collaboration revenue. Botensilimab's potential also makes Agenus a potential buyout candidate.
