For many investors, ImmunoGen's ($IMGN) value rests on the fate on the late-stage breast cancer drug T-DM1, under development with the developer's technology at Roche's ($RHHBY) Genentech unit. Yet a Cowen & Company analyst argued Wednesday that investors haven't given much credit to ImmunoGen's other drug candidates, and his assessment preceded a bump in the company's stock price.
Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen licenses to Roche technology for the armed antibody T-DM1, which attaches a cancer-killing toxin to the antibody ingredient in the blockbuster drug Herceptin. Cowen analyst Simos Simeonidis expects T-DM1 to gain the FDA's marketing stamp in mid-2013 after an expected application for approval later this year, paving the way for what he expects to be blockbuster sales of the drug for breast cancer. As Mass High Tech reports, ImmunoGen stands to gain royalties in the mid single digits on T-DM1 sales.
According to Simeonidis, however, that's not where the story ends for ImmunoGen, which has a pipeline of contenders in the hot field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Most major players in cancer drug players have gobbled up rights to technologies for the armed antibody drugs from ImmunoGen and other contenders such as Seattle Genetics ($SGEN), as oncology ADCs typically pack the one-two punch of a biologic to home in on cancer cells and a small-molecule toxin to blast tumors.
ImmunoGen's "$1.2B valuation [is] based mainly on the T-DM1 royalties [and] success of any of the 10 additional clinical molecules could provide significant upside," Simeonidis wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. "We believe that most of [ImmunoGen's] $1.2B valuation is based on the T-DM1 royalties and the $255M in cash, with little value assigned to the pipeline."
For starters, French drug giant Sanofi ($SNY) and ImmunoGen are collaborating on SAR3419, an ADC for lymphoma in mid-stage development, with data expected to be reported on the candidate before the end of the year, The Associated Press reported.
ImmunoGen's stock price rose nearly 3% to $13.92 per share on Wednesday.
- check out the AP article
- and Mass High Tech's report
Special Report: T-DM1 – Top 10 Late-Stage Cancer Drugs – 2012
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Analysts approve: optimism expressed for TDM-1 and other assets in Immunogen's pipeline.
Input from @JohnCFierce and @RyanMFierce