Key Takeaways:
- Nuvalent shares spiked on promising cancer trial findings.
- Drugs are being developed to fight and cure lung cancer in patients who never smoked or lightly smoked.
- The company recently had a small earnings beat. If trials continue to be successful, more positive trade data would be anticipated.
WISCONSIN (CoinChapter.com) — Stock price for biotech company Nuvalent (Nasdaq: NUVL) touched a low of $18.83 last Thursday.
Then out of nowhere on Friday, the price spiked 104% to $38.30 before settling at $35.34, up 76% for the week. Nuvalent reported promising data from a Phase 1 drug trial in which patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and other tumors were treated successfully.
Nuvalent labeled the study ARROS-1. Thirty-five patients are enrolled in the trial as the company adds more people. The actual treatment, NVL-520, was given in five doses ranging from 25 mg to 125 mg once daily.
Nuvalent said preliminary data showed partial responses in 10 out of 21 patients. In another part of the trial, 7 out of 9 patients responded well. 73% of patients had CNS metastases or, better defined, cancer that has spread from the original tumor to the central nervous system.
Chief Medical Officer Christopher Turner said:
“Importantly, the favorable safety profile and lack of dose reductions or discontinuations due to adverse events reflected in this preliminary data suggest that NVL-520 has the potential to provide deep and durable responses and may be able to move up in the treatment paradigm for patients with ROS1-driven cancers.”
Nuvalent History and Trading Data
Nuvalent began to seek funding in 2021 totaling $151 million and ended up with $166 million for lung cancer treatments.
According to the company, ALK and ROS (mutations mostly in patients who never smoked or are light smokers) are primary targets for lung cancer treatments. Often, cancer cells mutate around the common drugs targeting ALK and ROS.
Nuvalent designed drugs to combat cancer that have become resistant to current medicinal options.
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) commenced trading on July 29, 2021, consisting of 9,150,000 shares of Class A common stock and 600,000 shares of Class B common stock at $17 per share.
Before the recent spike in trading, Nuvalent shares fluctuated between a low of $7.06 last May and a previous high of $38.09 last September.
Recent Earnings
Nuvalent’s most recent earnings were reported on August 10th. They announced -$0.38 EPS versus a -$0.43 forecast.
A few “big players” are invested in NUVL, such as Fairmount Funds Management LLC, NY State Common Retirement Fund, Jane Street Group, and Goldman Sachs. If Nuvalent trials continue to be notable, this stock is one to watch.
