Merus stock catapulted to a record high Friday after its experimental regimen for head-and-neck cancer beat expectations in a highly anticipated study.
The Netherlands-based biotech paired its drug, petosemtamab, with Merck's cancer blockbuster, Keytruda, in patients with head-and-neck cancer. Six out of 10 patients responded to the regimen, Merus said in a release late Thursday.
"Overall, this does appear to meet the bar set by many investors going into the release of a 60% response rate, and importantly, the press release notes the response rate has further improved," William Blair analyst Matt Phipps said in a report.
On the stock market today, Merus stock rallied 36.1%, closing at 69.99. Shares launched above their 50-day moving average and touched a record high, MarketSurge shows.
Merus Stock: More Results Tuesday
Merus has tested its regimen in 26 patients overall. As of Nov. 6, 24 patients were still receiving treatment. In that group, 10 passed the bar for evaluation.
Of the 10, one achieved a complete response — meaning the tumor completely disappeared — and five had partial responses. Merus will dive deeper into the results in a conference call with investors on Tuesday, William Blair's Phipps noted.
He reiterated his outperform rating on Merus stock.
Notably, the rate of infusion-related reactions was significantly lower in this dataset at just 27%, Phipps said. This is the most common side effect associated with petosemtamab.
"We believe this highlights the additional know-how for treating physicians to watch for infusion reactions on the first cycle, and either slow or stop the infusion at early signs of reactions," he said.
Merus stock has a strong IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 96, which puts shares among the top 4% of all stocks in terms of 12-month performance.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_AGatlin.
