Aptevo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:) shares exploded on Wednesday, surging an incredible 144% after closing at just $2.82 the previous day. The dramatic spike comes after the biotechnology company released breakthrough clinical trial data for its lead cancer treatment, mipletamig, showing remarkable results in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Aptevo’s Mipletamig Breakthrough: 85% Remission Rate Changes the Game
The catalyst behind today’s massive stock surge is Aptevo’s announcement of compelling clinical data from its Phase 1b/2 RAINIER trial. Their experimental drug mipletamig, a CD123 x CD3 bispecific antibody, achieved an impressive 85% remission rate when combined with existing drugs venetoclax and azacitidine for treating frontline AML patients. This performance significantly outpaces competitor studies and current standard treatments, marking a potential breakthrough for patients who can’t tolerate intensive chemotherapy.
What makes these results even more exciting is the safety profile. Unlike many cancer immunotherapies that cause dangerous side effects, mipletamig showed no cytokine release syndrome (CRS) in the first two patient groups tested.
This suggests the company’s engineered CRIS-7 binding technology successfully reduces toxicity while maintaining powerful anti-cancer effects. Three patients with poor prognosis even achieved complete remission, with one successfully proceeding to a life-saving transplant.
The trial’s momentum continues building as Cohort 3 approaches full enrollment at the highest dose level tested so far.
For a small biotech company with a market cap of just $1.9 million, these results represent a potential paradigm shift that could redefine treatment standards for elderly or unfit AML patients who historically have limited options.
APVO Stock Brief
The premarket explosion shows quickly biotech stocks can move on promising clinical data. APVO closed yesterday at $2.82, down 22.95% from the previous session, before rocketing 123.4% higher to $6.30 in premarket trading at 8:51 AM EDT. This represents a gain of $3.48 per share, nearly doubling investors’ money overnight on the breakthrough news.
The stock’s recent performance has been challenging, with year-to-date returns showing a brutal 96.73% decline compared to the S&P 500’s positive 1.72% gain. The company’s 52-week range spans from $2.81 to an eye-watering $485.44, highlighting the extreme volatility typical of clinical-stage biotechnology stocks. With an average daily volume of 283,959 shares, today’s surge likely represents significantly higher than normal trading activity.
Key financial metrics paint the picture of a typical cash-burning biotech in development mode. The company shows negative earnings per share of -$325.05, no revenue, and a return on equity of -1,023.93%.
However, with $2.14 million in total cash and analyst price targets averaging $420 per share, the mipletamig breakthrough could be the catalyst needed to transform Aptevo from a struggling penny stock into a legitimate cancer treatment contender.
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Neither the author, Tim Fries, nor this website, The Tokenist, provide financial advice. Please consult our website policy prior to making financial decisions.
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