Seattle Genetics at all-time high on strength of breast cancer readout

Seattle Genetics added more than $2 billion in market cap Monday after reporting pivotal survival data for breast cancer therapy tucatinib, a TKI targeting HER2 which is designed to have a favorable toxicity profile compared with others in its class. The gains are more than three times the amount Seattle Genetics paid to acquire Cascadian Therapeutics Inc. last year, giving it a pipeline that includes the therapy.

Results from the registrational Phase II HER2CLIMB trial showed a triplet including tucatinib led to longer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) compared with the triplet’s other two components, Herceptin trastuzumab and capecitabine, alone. Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) plans to submit an NDA to FDA next quarter seeking tucatinib’s approval in the trial’s third-line setting, following treatment with Herceptin, Perjeta pertuzumab and Kadcyla ado-trastuzumab emtansine. ...