Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) shareholders have had a rough run over the past year, with the stock falling from highs over $20 per share to about $7 per share today. Its drug Iclusig has been plagued by any number of difficulties, with safety concerns leading the FDA to pull the drug off the market briefly before returning it with a stronger health warning.
But Ariad shareholders finally got some good news today: In a phase 2 trial in patients with refractory metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors with KIT exon 11 mutations, 50% of patients with that mutation displayed some form of clinical benefit from the drug, and the FDA also lifted a partial clinical hold on patient enrollment.
In this video, from Monday's Market Checkup, the Motley Fool's health care-focused investing show, health care analysts Michael Douglass and David Williamson talk about the results and what they mean for Ariad shareholders.
