Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACK)
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MACK), a biopharmaceutical company on Thursday announced U.S FDA approval of ONIVYDE. ONIVYDE is used for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. ONIVYDE taken with fluorouracil and leucovorin is now currently the only FDA approved treatment of patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas after disease progression following gemcitabine based therapy.
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO Comments
“We are thrilled to be able to deliver this groundbreaking therapy to patients battling metastatic pancreatic cancer,” said Robert Mulroy, President and CEO of Merrimack. “Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive and devastating disease, with very few patients surviving beyond one year. ONIVYDE provides a clinically significant treatment option to a patient population where there is currently no standard of care. We are grateful to the many patients, clinicians, researchers and partners that worked with us to make ONIVYDE available. Today’s approval by the FDA is a pivotal milestone in our company’s history, representing years of hard work and commitment to our mission of engineering new treatment options for cancer patients in need.” PR Newswire
MACK Technical Analysis
MACK gapped up in price on Friday to $9.38, up from the prior day’s close of $8.71, which is an 8% increase in price based on favorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart, we can see the last time the stock traded above this price level was on October 21st, when it closed at $10.01. Taking a further look back on the chart we can see the stock has been on an overall decline dating back to April 23rd when the it was trading at $13.67. The stock reached its 52 week low of $7.21 on October 22nd, and appears to be bouncing of those lows with the gap up in price. The first resistance level for the stock should be the $10.00 price level. The stock does have a 101.86 million share float and is trading below the average daily volume.I would be trading this stock more for a rebound play on the favorable news. The stock did reach pre market highs of $10.50 but gave back $1.12 at the open, or equivalent to 11%. For trading purposes,my entry point would have been $9.50 looking for a move up to $10. My stop loss would have been $9.35 fearing anything below that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in discovering, developing, and preparing to commercialize medicines paired with companion diagnostics for the treatment of cancer primarily in the United States. Its therapeutic oncology candidates in clinical development include MM-398, a nanotherapeutic encapsulation of the chemotherapy drug irinotecan, which is has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer whose cancer had progressed on treatment with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine; in a Phase I clinical trial as a monotherapy in patients with glioma and in combination with cyclophosphamide in patients with pediatric solid tumors; and in a Phase 1 translational clinical trial designed to identify predictive biomarkers associated with MM-398. The companys therapeutic oncology candidates also include MM-302 that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with ErbB2 (HER2)-positive, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer; MM-121, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with heregulin positive, advanced non-small cell lung cancer, as well as ovarian, breast, and non-small cell lung cancers; and MM-111 that is in a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with advanced gastric, esophageal, and gastroesophageal junction cancers. In addition, its therapeutic oncology candidates consist of MM-151 and MM-141, which are in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with solid tumors. The company has collaboration and license agreements with Baxter International Inc., Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Baxter Healthcare SA, Actavis, Sanofi, PharmaEngine, Inc., Dyax Corp., Adimab LLC, and University of California. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yahoo Finance
