What happened
Shares of Summit Therapeutics (SMMT 8.31%) were up by 61.4% for the week as of late Friday afternoon, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The healthcare stock, which specializes in developing antibiotics and oncology therapies, closed at $1.32 last week, then rose to as high as $2.20 on Friday. The stock is down more than 48% so far this year but up more than 93% over the past 12 months.
So what
Summit is a clinical-stage biotech company. On Wednesday, it announced it was beginning two phase 3 clinical trials for Ivonescimab, combined with chemotherapy, to treat two different indications of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The company entered into a collaboration agreement late last year with Akeso to develop and commercialize Ivonescimab in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. Akeso retained the rights for the remainder of the world, including China. The therapy is a novel, potential first-in-class investigational bispecific antibody. Putting it into phase 3 trials shows the confidence the company has in the therapy.
Now what
While Summit doesn't have any marketed drugs, it has a team that was involved in bringing cancer therapy Imbruvica to market. Summit only has one other drug in its pipeline, SMT-738, designed to treat various drug-resistant infections. The move forward to clinical trials for Ivonescimab is a big deal, but the company has a long way to go to get it approved and eventually market the therapy. In the meantime, it will likely need to raise more money to fund operations.
As of last Dec. 31, the company reported it had $654.7 million in cash and it lost $27.1 million in 2022. It did not have any revenue.
