Note to biotech investors - the next time you need a stock to soar 270% in two days, make sure it's able show great efficacy with its lead breast cancer drug. That seems to have done the trick with Genta Incorporated (OTC:GNTA) anyway. This micro-cap's stock jumped from
.0018 on Tuesday to Thursday's close of
.0068, and in so doing may have set Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) and Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) back a notch or two... medically speaking anyway.
At the heart of the matter is a type of cancer treatment called a taxane. They're made by several manufacturers, and treat several kinds of cancers. Bristol Myers Squibb Co., for instance, makes Taxol (or the generic version, paclitaxel). It's been widely used to treat lung cancer. Sanofi SA makes Taxotere (or the generic version, docetaxel), which has been the preferred starting treatment for breast cancer for many, many years. However, both drugs - along with other taxanes - have been shown to be effective therapies for several cancers.
So, the fact that Genta Incorporated has a budding breast cancer therapy option isn't quite the reason investors are excited, and it certainly isn't the reason Sanofi SA, Bristol Myers Squibb, and all the other generic taxane makers may want to stop for a second and assess what's happening. No, what this competition needs to worry about is how the new GNTA taxane is delivered. It's a pill.
While still effective though nearly 20 years old, taxanes like docetaxel and paclitaxel also come with a downside ... they're intravenously administered, and worse, they've got high toxicity. They can cauue severe - sometimes fatal - reactions that require pre-medication with steroids and antihistamines. Other side effects linked to taxanes include damage to peripheral nerves.
With Genta Incorporated's Tesetaxal, intravenous infusion reactions aren't a risk, and no pre-medication [usually steroids] are required. The threat to the likes of Sanofi SA and Bristol Myers Squibb are clear, but not even just on the breast cancer front - that was simply update on one trial on Thursday. Tesetaxal is actually in clinical trials as a treatment for five different cancers: bladder cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, and gastric cancer (all in phase II testing). GNTA doesn't pose a threat to breast cancer drug makers; it poses a threat to the entire taxane industry, which is the heart of the oncology industry right now.
Though it would be years before Genta could fully develop and launch all five cancer therapies under review right now, it also took years for taxanes to fully roll out out in the early 90's. That was worth the wait though.