Should Pfizer Buy This Beaten-Down Immuno-Oncology Company?

This is the title of a blog I saw about a tiny drugmaker with a lot of  PD-1 candidates in its portfolio in the hottest cancer treatment frontier: immune-oncology (IO). You can read it here. The company I’m talking about is Agenus (AGEN).

 

While this is a very interesting discussion about the potential MA target, which I also think is quite a solid case, purely  relying on this to buy the stock is just like a gamble as there is no any certainty. There are simply so many early stage biotechs that are busy doing something relevant to IO. However, what further interesting me about AGEN is its technical strength after I reviewed its price chart. I was shocked to learn that AGEN used to be an over $300 stock and has got crashed all the way down to around $4 now. This a small biotech with a net cash of around $30 million and its price action looks strong to move up, supported a positive MACD. This suggests a lot of investors are also betting for it to further advance. If Pfizer or another company really takes it, I think this tiny company could give Pfizer or the acquirer an edge over its immuno-oncology competitors. This reminds me a similar situation for a biotech called Medrex. It had a lot of monoclonal antibodies in house, including the historical product, ipilimumab or Yervoy. This is the first ever marketed IO product developed by Bristol Myers Squibb, a truly historical breakthrough that really opens a new era in cancer therapy. But you cannot find Medrex  anymore. It licensed Yervoy to BMS for development and at the later stage of the development BMS must have smelled that they were holding a gem in hand. So they simply bought out Medrex! While there is surely no certainty but I think AGEN could be the next Medrex someday, if their rich portfolio of IO-related candidates can lead to one or more blockbusters.