Maxim Group raised its price target for BeiGene (NASDAQ:BGNE) to $120 from $77 after the company announced preliminary data from its ongoing Phase 1/2 study of BGB-A317 (PD-1 antibody) in Chinese patients with advanced solid tumors at the 20th annual meeting of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology in Xiamen, China.
Shares of BeiGene were quoted at $96.77 in afternoon trading on Sept. 28.
BGB-A317 is currently in two registrational studies in China in urothelial cancer and classical Hodgkin lymphoma. With Celgene’s collaboration now closed, BeiGene plans to initiate Phase 3 studies in China for lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer and esophageal cancer, which are the most prevalent cancer types in China, in the fourth quarter of 2017 and first quarter of 2018.
“While it is still early, BGB-A317 has shown signals of efficacy in difficult to treat cancer types in Chinese patients, which is consistent with data from the global trials,” writes analyst Gabrielle Zhou.
Now with Celgene onboard to develop BGB-A317 in solid tumors globally and BeiGene’s progress in China, “we layer in value for the PD1 franchise,” she added.
“We expect to see more data from its global trials showing that BGB-A317 is differentiated,” Ms. Zhou said. “It may restore a T-cell’s cancer killing ability by inhibiting PD-1, but with a more durable killing effect. We could see a best-in-class PD-1 inhibitor.”
