Just as we noted in a Canadian special report today, the biotech community is abuzz with two high-profile annual meetings upcoming, the 2017 American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting from June 2-6 in Chicago, Illinois and the 22nd Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association in Madrid, Spain on June 23, 2017. Some of the best performing stocks in North America on Thursday are climbing on news of scheduled presentations where investors will get a closer look on drug development.
That's the case today for ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) as investors are bidding up the stock on data strengthening the preclinical profile of ARQ 531, the company's orally bioavailble Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor in development for B-cell lymphoma. ArQule will be presenting preclinical data from in vitro and in vivo tumor models evaluating ARQ 531 at the EHA Congress in Spain.
ArQule says that the data supports clinical trials of ARQ 531 in B-cell lymphoma patients resistant to approved therapies, including ibrutinib, a leading treatment marketed by AbbVie (NASDAQ:ABBV) under the brand name Imbruvica. Imbruvica generated over $1.8 billion in sales in 2016.
The company plans to commence a Phase 1 trial of ARQ 531 in refractory B-cell malignancies during the July to August quarter this year.
Shares of ARQL have been trending lower during 2017, but have roared ahead 28.0% to $1.27 so far in Thursday afternoon trading.
