Friday, 13 September 2024
by BD Banks
Shares of Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SMMT) were soaring 22.5% higher as of 11:18 a.m. ET on Thursday. The gain came after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company revealed that it entered into agreements with several biotech institutional and individual accredited investors for the sale of over 10.3 million shares for roughly $235 million in a private placement.
Investors were undoubtedly especially glad to see key insiders agree to buy more Summit Therapeutics stock. Together, co-CEOs Robert W. Duggan and Mahkam Zanganeh, chief operating officer (COO)/CFO Manmeet Soni, chief accounting officer Bhaskar Anand, and board member Jeff Huber are purchasing over 3.48 million shares.
Summit’s latest gain came on top of the stock’s 85% jump earlier this week. This sizzling momentum is due to the company’s overwhelmingly positive results reported on Sept. 8, 2024, from a phase 3 study evaluating ivonescimab as a first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
In this clinical study, which was conducted in China, ivonescimab reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 49% compared to Merck‘s blockbuster drug Keytruda. Summit’s experimental cancer therapy is the first to beat Keytruda head-to-head in a randomized late-stage clinical trial.
Even with the stellar phase 3 results for ivonescimab, buying a clinical-stage biotech stock is always associated with risks. There are also tremendous expectations for Summit, as reflected by the company’s market cap of nearly $19 billion despite having no product on the market. That said, the commercial potential for ivonescimab appears to be huge. I think this stock is one to consider for aggressive investors.
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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Merck and Summit Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.