Eli Lilly Stock Shrugs Off Upbeat Drug Data

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SB527738632899569448639045855402137109248101 nwchain|SB527738632899569448639045855402137109248101 pe Alexander Drilon pe|Alexander Drilon lastname Drilon codetype pe displayname Drilon, Alexander extractedtext Alexander Drilon source FACTIVA code alexander_drilon name Alexander Drilon firstname Alexander nameformat surname_first pe Chen pe|Chen lastname Chen codetype pe displayname Chen extractedtext Chen source FACTIVA code chen name Chen nameformat surname_first pe Louise Chen pe|Louise Chen lastname Chen codetype pe displayname Chen, Louise extractedtext Louise Chen source FACTIVA code louise_chen name Louise Chen firstname Louise nameformat surname_first relay SYND relay|SYND codetype RELAY name Syndication source EXPANDER value SYND code synd status modified statistic CODES_REVIEWED statistic|CODES_REVIEWED name CODES_REVIEWED value CODES_REVIEWED codetype STATISTIC code CODES_REVIEWED subject BARCOMP subject|BARCOMP ruleid BARCOMP codetype SUBJECT value BARCOMP 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One analyst said that new data on an Eli Lilly cancer drug “could not have been better,” but the pharma giant’s stock was mildly lower in Monday morning trading.

Eli Lilly Stock Shrugs Off Upbeat Drug Data

One analyst said that new data on an Eli Lilly cancer drug “could not have been better,” but the pharma giant’s stock was mildly lower in Monday morning trading.

https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lilly-announces-positive-results-selpercatinib-loxo-292 https://asset.barrons.com/dj-mg/dice/barrons-staffpicks-2d590600-c862-4394-b9d3-66b48c376d60/inset.json mailto:josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com Eli Lilly Stock Shrugs Off Upbeat Drug Data By Josh Nathan-Kazis Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

One analyst said that new data on an Eli Lilly cancer drug “could not have been better,” but the pharma giant’s stock was mildly lower in Monday morning trading.

The company released data Monday morning on LOXO-292, a drug Lilly (ticker: LLY) acquired as part of its $8 billion purchase of the small biotech firm Loxo Oncology early this year.

Lilly said that the drug achieved a 68% response rate among RET-fusion positive non-small cell lung cancer patients who had already undergone chemotherapy.

“We are encouraged by these data as there is currently an unmet need to provide genomically tailored therapy to patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLCs,” the lead investigator on the study, Alexander Drilon, said in a statement.

The back story. Lilly stock is down 1.4% year to date through Friday’s close, beating the S&P 500 Pharmaceuticals industry group, which is down 2.4% so far this year. The company purchased Loxo Oncology in January, highlighting LOXO-292 at the time as a key reason for the purchase.

What’s new. On Monday, at the World Conference on Lung Cancer, the company announced the results of a clinical trial known as LIBRETTO-001, testing LOXO-292 in RET fusion-positive NSCLC cancer.

https://asset.barrons.com/dj-mg/dice/barrons-staffpicks-2d590600-c862-4394-b9d3-66b48c376d60/inset.json

“The data were better than expected based on conversations we had with physicians and investors prior to the release,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen wrote in a note out Monday morning. She reaffirmed an Overweight rating and has a $143 price target on Lilly stock.

The drug was tested in 105 patients who had been “heavily pretreated,” according to the company. As of June 17, the median duration of response was 20.3 months, and the median progression-free survival was 18.4 months, though the company said that the numbers would continue to “mature over time.”

In her note, Cantor Fitzgerald’s Chen wrote that the company plans to submit the drug for regulatory approval by the end of the year.

“Exhale, LLY World Lung Data Could Not Have Been Better,” Chen headlined her note.

Looking forward. The company is hosting a call on the data this afternoon. In the meantime, investors are ambivalent on the development, with the stock slipping about 1% to $113.02 in early Monday trading.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.