Monday was a straight-up lousy day for the major U.S. stock indices on a day that saw oil slip 4%, sending energy stocks broadly down 1.3%. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.86%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.91% and the Nasdaq Composite suffered a 0.91% slide.
This morning, market watchers will want to focus a little attention on Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE), Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) and Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY).
Here’s why:
Kite Pharma Inc (KITE)
Kite Pharma is up on promising results of its new clinical trial.
The company is working on a non-Hodgkin lymphoma medication called KTE-C19 with the help of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. KTE-C19 helps to battle several types of cancer, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, transformed follicular lymphoma and primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma.
In a recent trial, more than two-thirds of patients treated with the medication responded positively to the treatment, with 40% experiencing complete remission.
A follow-up study that examines the progress of 101 patients will be released by Kite Pharma in the first quarter of 2017.
KITE stock is on pace to open 12% higher today, which would put shares near year-to-date highs around the $62 area.
Mylan NV (MYL)
Mylan is coming under fire once again — this time for revealing only a partial amount of the profits made from its EpiPen tool.
MYL announced last week that the asthma and allergy drug raked in $100 for a two-pack of the injectors, which has a list price of $608. The Wall Street Journal reported last night that CEO Heather Bresch clarified to a congressional committee that the figure it released was the after-tax profit.
Mylan used the statutory U.S. corporate tax rate of 37.5% to pass off its EpiPen profit as $100 per medication, when it really was $166 before taxes.
MYL stock has suffered 25% losses for the year-to-date, with most of the recent pain coming in the wake of Mylan’s EpiPen scandal. MYL shares are off about 1 percent this morning.
Array Biopharma Inc (ARRY)
It looks like the good times will keep on rolling for ARRY stock holders this morning.
Array Biopharma cruised more than 80% yesterday after the biotech firm saw success in a late-stage study for its melanoma treatment. The top-line results of a phase 3 Columbus study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating “a robust PFS benefit associated with the combination of binimetinib plus encorafenib versus vemurafenib in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma.”
Or, in other words, the company’s combo treatment works better than simply vemurafenib.
The news sent shares rocketing higher, knocking loose a few shorts in the process. Roughly 13% of ARRY’s float was sold short as of the most recent data.
The gains are continuing into this morning, with ARRY shares up an additional 10% in premarket trade.
As of this writing, Karl Utermohlen did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
