Biotechnology firm Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPPI) recently received regulatory approval for its inflation-reducing injections associated with anti-cancer drugs, thus driving SPPI stock significantly higher on Monday morning.
According to the company’s Sept. 9 press release, Spectrum — which focuses on novel and targeted oncology therapies — announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the underlying Rolvedon (eflapegrastim-xnst) injection. The therapeutic decreases the incidence of infection (caused by febrile neutropenia) in adult patients with non-myeloid malignancies taking anti-cancer drugs.
“ROLVEDON’s approval marks Spectrum’s transformation to a commercial-stage company with the opportunity to compete in a $2 billion dollar market, and offers a unique value proposition,” said Tom Riga, president and CEO of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals.
“Our commercial team is in place and ready to engage key stakeholders immediately,” added Erin Miller, senior vice president of Spectrum’s sales and marketing division. Most significantly, Miller expects “to have product available in the fourth quarter of 2022 following the fulfillment of customary, pre-launch regulatory requirements.”
Initially, SPPI stock gapped up nearly 16% against Friday’s close, though it pared back gains in the later hours. In the early afternoon session, shares settled around 5% to 6% up.
Not the Only Piece of Good News for SPPI Stock
Although Rolvedon got investors excited about SPPI stock heading into last weekend, it wasn’t the only good news for Spectrum. Prior to Monday’s opening bell, the market reacted positively to encouraging data regarding the company’s therapeutic Poziotinib.
According to TipRanks, Poziotinib represents “a novel, oral epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI) that inhibits the proliferation of tumour cells, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other types of cancers.”
According to Spectrum’s clinical data, “all 14 patients treated with Poziotinib showed a partial response with an objective response rate (ORR) of 85.7% and a median response duration of 5.5 months.” Specifically, the “ORR was 100% in the previously treated Cohort 2 patients who received 16 mg of poziotinib once a day, and 71.4% in the treatment naïve Cohort 4 patients dosed with 8 mg poziotinib twice a day.”
“These findings demonstrate the high activity of poziotinib in both treatment naïve and heavily pre-treated patients,” said Francois Lebel, M.D., Spectrum’s chief medical officer.
According to TipRanks’ assessment of analyst sentiment, all three experts covering SPPI stock rate the security as a buy. The average price target is $6.67, implying 390% growth potential at time of writing.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
