Fast Pipeline Progress Pushes ImmunoGen Above 150% In A Year

Shares of ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) have shot up 157.9% in a year’s time, massively outperforming the industry’s 7.8% increase. Let’s analyze the factors that led to this skyrocketing rally.

ImmunoGen’s rapid pipeline progress along with positive readouts and strategic collaborations consistently drove its share price performance.

The company made significant advancement with regards to its lead pipeline candidate, mirvetuximab soravtansine, in the last 12 months. It is being evaluated in a phase III study (FORWARD I) as a single-agent therapy for treating patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

ImmunoGenactivated more than 90 sites for study enrolment in the third quarter of 2017, aiming to complete it by the middle of 2018. The readout on the primary endpoint is anticipated in the first half of 2019. Also, the candidate is being evaluated in three phase I expansion cohorts on 113 ovarian cancer patients.

An FDA nod for mirvetuximab soravtansine would be a huge boost to ImmunoGen, given its immense commercial potential in the target market. Ovarian cancer causes maximum annual deaths among gynecologic cancers with majority of patients diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Meanwhile, combination regimens with mirvetuximab soravtansine for ovarian cancer are also being examined in phase Ib/II FORWARD II study. The trial consists of cohorts assessing mirvetuximab soravtansine in combination with Roche’s (OTC:RHHBY) Avastin and Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda.

In May 2017, ImmunoGen had reported initial results from FORWARD II study, showing mirvetuximab soravtansine with potential to complement the currently available therapies for the indication. Approval for any of these combo therapies will significantly expand the eligible patient population for mirvetuximab soravtansine.

Apart from mirvetuximab soravtansine, ImmunoGen is working to develop a couple of early-stage candidates including IMGN779 and IMGN632. In December 2017, ImmunoGen presented positive findings from the ongoing phase I study, evaluating IMGN779 on patients with relapsed or refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at the annual meeting of American Society of Hematology. Moreover, this January, the company moved IMGN632 into phase I study to treat hematological malignancies including AML.

It is also important to note that ImmunoGen signed agreements with several big healthcare players including Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Bayer (DE:BAYGN), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) , Novartis, Roche, Sanofi (PA:SASY) and Takeda. By dint of these contracts, other companies are allowed to use ImmunoGen’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology and provide it with funds in the form of license and milestone fees, royalties, clinical materials revenues plus R&D (research and development) support fees.

Although the platinum-resistant ovarian cancer market offers immense commercial potential, ImmunoGen is notably set to face intense competition upon approval. However, mirvetuximab soravtansine looks promising at this juncture and its approval will lend a big boost to the company.

Zacks Rank

ImmunoGen carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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