I don't know who Marco is and whether he knows anything about stocks or not. However, in his post on Seeking Alpha today, he recommends buying up ImmunoGen stock as it drops precipitously in price in the wake of the FDA Refuse to File letter sent to Roche/Genentech last week. This involves ImmunoGen as they have licensed their TAP technology to Genentech for use with its trastuzumab (Herceptin) molecule. The resulting molecule, T-DM1, is what Roche sought to get accelerated approval from the FDA for the treatment of advanced HER2 positive breast cancer. The FDA says "Nyet" based on data submitted.
However, there is no indication that the drug is in trouble for ultimate approval. Genentech is starting its phase III trials as scheduled and is seeking to file with the FDA again in mid-2012. The drug is still expected to be a winner.
ImmunoGen doesn't get its milestone payment now though -- and this has led to its 35% drop in stock price since August 27th. Marco says this is a buying opportunity (where have you heard that before on Wall Street). However, in this case, T-DM1 does seem to me to be a viable therapy. As Marco, points out the IMGN stock appears to have stabilized after its "market correction" and is seemingly backed by some substantial institutional investors. This also tends to be stabilizing. So, if you have the stomach (and extra cash) for it - buy low and wait to sell high sometime after mid-2012 when Genentech makes its next filing.
Posted by Bruce Lehr August 30th 2010.
More background on T-DM1 from Xconomy
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2010/08/27/immunogen-and-genentech-empowered-antibody-cancer-drug-fails-to-garner-accelerated-approval-from-fda/
Posted by: bigredbruce | 08/30/2010 at 05:19 PM