Shares of BeyondSpring Inc.
BYSI,
more than tripled — up 242% — on heavy volume in premarket trading Wednesday, after the New York-headquartered biopharmaceutical company said a Phase 3 trial of its lung cancer treatment met the primary and key secondary endpoints. The stock, which closed at a record low last week, was on track to open at the highest price seen during regular-session hours since April 2018. Trading volume spiked to 8.0 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 196,000 shares. The company said plinabulin met the primary endpoint of increasing overall survival and met secondary endpoints, such as improving overall response rates, progression-free survival, 24- and 36-month overall survival rates and significant reduction in the incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia. Chief Medical Officer Ramon Mohanlal said the success of the study represents “proof-of-concept of plinabulin’s immune-enhancing mechanism of action that is complimentary to that of checkpoint inhibitors, and which is the rationale for it to be combined as triple IO combinations in multiple tumor indications.” The stock had dropped 21.1% year to date through Tuesday, while the iShares Biotechnology ETF
IBB,
has gained 11.8% and the S&P 500
SPX,
has advanced 17.8%.
