ImmunoGen Soars 14% On FDA Breakthrough Designation For Blood Cancer Therapy

Shares of ImmunoGen spiked 14.2% on Monday after the biotechnology company said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to its IMGN632 for the treatment of a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.

ImmunoGen (IMGN) said that “Breakthrough Therapy designation is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition and have generated preliminary clinical evidence that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy.”

ImmunoGen’s IMGN632 is an antibody-drug conjugate that targets CD123. The drug therapy is tested in the treatment of relapsed or refractory blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) – a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer. This form of blood cancer requires intense treatment often followed by stem cell transplant. (See IMGN stock analysis on TipRanks)

Following the FDA’s grant announcement, Piper Sandler analyst Joseph Catanzaro said that the company had now another potentially approvable oncology asset. However, Catanzaro remains uncertain about the potential revenue opportunity of the drug. The analyst maintained his Hold rating and a price target of $4.75 (7.5% upside potential) on the stock.

Currently, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 5 Buys and 3 Holds. With shares down 13.5% year-to-date, the average price target of $7.55 implies upside potential of about 70.8% to current levels.