Of all of Tuesday’s big movers, one company that’s gotten a lot of attention right now is a little biotech stock called Agenus (NASDAQ: AGEN). While you probably haven’t heard of it before, this company is trending right now after it managed to secure a gargantuan deal with one of the largest biotech companies in the world. Agenus saw its stock skyrocket on Tuesday after the company announced a $1.6 billion deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), a $146 billion giant, to develop Agenus’ promising new cancer antibody treatment.
Bristol-Myers confirmed that it had signed a deal to develop Agenus’ antibody treatment known as AGEN1777. This drug candidate works by targeting certain receptors on your body’s T cells, helping optimize them to better target and kill cancer cells. So far, there’s a lot of optimism surrounding this potential treatment. Despite the fact that the drug is still in the preclinical stages of development, that hasn’t stopped Bristol-Myers from betting big that this drug could be a success, despite the statistical odds of that happening being rather low.
The biotech giant said that it would pay $200 million upfront for an exclusive license, alongside an extra $1.4 billion in royalty and milestone payments in the future, depending on how AGEN1777 turns out. In total, that’s around $1.6 billion. In comparison, Agenus is just an $800 million market cap company whose pipeline consists of drug candidates still in the early stages of clinical development.
“We are pleased to partner with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop and commercialize AGEN1777. Their stellar record of success in this area has been an important determinant for our decision to enter into this transaction,” said Garo Armen, PhD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agenus. “Through such transactions we are able to balance between advancing our portfolio with highly qualified collaborators, while retaining our other innovations for speedy development and commercialization by Agenus.”
While it’s common for bigger biotech companies to partner up with smaller ones on promising drug candidates, it’s unusual for a treatment in preclinical stages of development to attract such attention. It’s no surprise why investors jumped at the news and sent the stock skyrocketing.
Shares of Agenus were up around 20.6% on Tuesday following the announcement. Over the past five years, Agenus has seen little in the way of stock movement, which shares generally hovering between the $3 to $5 price range. However, this 20% spike wasn’t the first time shares skyrocketed this year. Right now, there are only three Wall Street analysts covering the stock right now, and all of them have a buy rating on the company.
Agenus Company Profile
Agenus Inc is an American biotechnology company. Its main target is immuno-oncology treatments. The company’s portfolio consists of therapeutic antibodies and vaccines to treat immuno-oncology illnesses: cancers, shingles, malaria, glioblastoma, and others. Agenus treatments aim, by combining multiple antibody platforms, to stimulate the immune system to recognize and fight cancer cells. The company has been cooperating with companies like Incyte, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, and Recepta Biopharma to achieve over a dozen antibody programs. Some of its products include Prophage, AutoSynVax, QS-21 Stimulon, and others. – Warrior Trading News
