I’ve been bullish on Aptose Biosciences (APTO) for some time, but have also tried to make clear that I view this as an extremely risky play on potentially class-leading drugs for hematologic oncology. So far, that bullishness has not been rewarded at all, as disappointing clinical updates have led investors to abandon ship.
There’s no arguing that the lack of clinical responses in the studies of luxeptinib has been very disappointing, and even if a new formulation of the drug can unlock the potential seen in pre-clinical studies, this is absolutely a “show me” story. While there’s an argument that recently-acquired drug HM43239 (or “’239”) is getting unfairly overlooked as investors have bailed out, the reality is that biotech sentiment has turned sour and early-stage oncology plays are among the riskiest in the sector.
I wouldn’t fault anybody for taking their losses here and moving on, or at least stepping to the side until there are more data in hand. While it’s certainly true that getting in “at the ground floor” can lead to the best returns, there should still be plenty of upside for those investors who buy in further down the clinical investment timeline. Moreover, appealing as it might be to identify those ground floor opportunities, all too often in early-stage small-cap biotechs investors find that a sinkhole opens up below that ground floor.
Read more here:
Aptose Deep In The Doghouse Due To Lack Of Pipeline Progress
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