Immunomedics Enters Into Supply Deal For Breast Cancer Drug

Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) announced a strategic manufacturing partnership with Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT).

Both the companies have expanded their long-term master supply agreement, whereby Johnson Matthey will continue to scale the manufacturing of CL2A-SN-38, the drug-linker that is a key component of Immunomedics’ lead antibody-drug conjugate, sacituzumab govitecan.

Sacituzumab govitecan is currently under priority review by the FDA for accelerated approval as a treatment for patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC). Sacituzumab govitecan has also been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation in the United States for the treatment of patients with mTNBC.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Share price of Immunomedics has decreased 3.6% year to date, narrower than the industry’s decline of 25.6%.

Immunomedics is gearing up for the launch of its lead candidate, assuming a tentative approval. In May 2018, Immunomedics submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for sacituzumab govitecan for the treatment of patients with mTNBC who have received at least two prior therapies for metastatic disease. The BLA was accepted for filing and granted Priority Review with a PDUFA target action date of Jan 18, 2019.

Moreover, the company has entered into collaborations with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ:CLVS) to evaluate sacituzumab govitecan in earlier lines of therapy for mTNBC, and advanced urothelial cancer (UC) in combination with checkpoint and PARP inhibitors, respectively.

In June 2018, Immunomedics entered into a clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi, a human monoclonal antibody directed against PD-L1, and sacituzumab govitecan as a treatment for patients with triple-negative breast cancer and UC.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Immunomedics currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A better-ranked stock in the healthcare sector is Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) , which sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Bristol-Myers’ earnings per share estimates have increased from $3.84 to $3.87 for 2018 and $4.03 to $4.14 for 2019 over the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in all the trailing four quarters, with average of 11.99%.

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