ARRY Shines A BEACON, So Long To JUNO And BIVV, Exciting Time Ahead For GEMP

(RTTNews) - The following are some of today's top gainers in the pharma/biotech sector.

1. Bioverativ Inc. (BIVV)

Gained 61.89% to close Monday's (Jan.22) trading at $103.79.

News: The Company is all set to be acquired by Sanofi SA in a deal valued at roughly $11.6 billion or $105 a share. The transaction is expected to close within the next three months.

Bioverativ is focused on developing therapies for the treatment of people with hemophilia and other rare blood disorders. The Company has two marketed products, ELOCTATE and ALPROLIX, which are approved in the US, Canada and Japan, and a couple of clinical compounds.

A phase I/IIa trial of BIVV001 for hemophilia A, and two phase III studies for BIVV009 in cold agglutinin disease (CAgD) are underway.

2. Juno Therapeutics Inc. (JUNO)

Gained 26.82% to close Monday's trading at $86.00. The stock has gained more than 88% in the last 4 trading days. Rumors about Celgene acquiring Juno broke out on January 17, 2018, sending the stock up nearly 52% that day.

News: Celgene has confirmed that it is acquiring Juno for $87 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $9 billion. Celgene already owns approximately 9.7% of outstanding shares of Juno.

The transaction is anticipated to close this quarter.

3. Gemphire Therapeutics Inc. (GEMP)

Gained 19.46% to close Monday's trading at $9.76.

News: No news

Recent event:

-- On January 17, 2018, the Company announced that it has achieved its enrollment goal of 90 subjects across 39 sites in its Phase 2b trial investigating Gemcabene in severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG) patients, dubbed INDIGO-1.

Clinical Trials & Near-term Catalysts:

-- A phase IIa proof-of-concept clinical trial of Gemcabene in adults with FPL, a rare genetic disorder characterized by an abnormal distribution of fatty tissue, which can lead to a variety of metabolic abnormalities including NASH was initiated in December 2017. This study is expected to enroll 8 FPL patients with elevated triglycerides and NAFLD, and top line results from the trial are expected in the second half of 2018. -- Report top-line results from INDIGO-1 in the second quarter of 2018.

4. Array BioPharma Inc. (ARRY)

Gained 18.42% to close Monday's trading at $15.56.

News: The Company announced that its phase III trial evaluating the triplet combination of Encorafenib, Binimetinib, and Cetuximab, in patients with BRAF-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer, dubbed BEACON, has demonstrated an 8 month median progression-free survival.

According to the Company, the results exceeds historical benchmarks of approximately 2 months for median progression-free survival, and 4 to 6 months for median overall survival, with current standards of care in this patient population.

The enrollment in the randomized portion of the BEACON trial is ongoing.

5. Urogen Pharma Ltd. (URGN)

Gained 16.33% to close Monday's trading at $50.02.

News: No news

Recent event:

On January 18, 2018, the Company priced its public offering of 1.46 million ordinary shares at a public offering price of $41.00 each for gross proceeds of about $60.0 million. The offering is expected to close on January 23, 2018.

Clinical Trials & Near-term Catalysts:

-- The Company's lead drug candidate is MitoGel, which is in a phase III trial for the treatment of low-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma, dubbed OLYMPUS. Top line data from this trial are expected to be available in the third quarter of 2018.

The other clinical programs are:

-- VesiGel, for the treatment of low grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (LG-NMIBC), which has completed phase IIa study. A phase IIb study of VesiGel is planned for the first half of 2018. -- Vesimune, for the treatment of Carcinoma In-Situ (CIS), a high-grade form of NMIBC, which has completed phase Ib study. A phase II study of Vesimune is planned for the first half of 2018. -- Botugel, a novel intravesical sustained release formulation of botulinum toxin for Overactive Bladder (OAB) and Interstitial Cystitis (IC). In October 2016, the Company licensed the BotuGel program to Allergan for further development. A phase II trial of Botugel in Overactive Bladder, initiated by Allergan in November 2017, is underway.

6. The Medicines Company (MDCO)

Gained 16.03% to close Monday's trading at $28.81.

News: No news

Upcoming event:

The Company is slated to report Q4, 2017 and full-year financial results on February 26, 2018.

7. Editas Medicine Inc. (EDIT)

Gained 13.88% to close Monday's trading at $34.62.

News: The investors' enthusiasm about the acquisition of Juno Therapeutics by Celgene seems to have rubbed off on Editas.

Editas has an alliance with Juno Therapeutics to improve T cell therapies for oncology.

You can find more about Editas in our premium stock report. EDIT was trading around $20 when we alerted our subscribers to this stock last May.