Incyte Corporation (INCY), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Pop-Worthy Data, Incyte, but Let’s See More

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Reading between the lines, it appears that Jakafi isn’t extending survival by all that much when you look median survival. It’s possible that there’s a subgroup of the subgroup that responds really well, which drives up the six-month survival but hardly moves the median survival.

That’s potentially still meaningful — most patients with advanced pancreatic cancer live less than a year — but without the full data, it’s just speculation.

The big tell
These questions will eventually be answered, most likely when the full data is presented at a medical meeting or when the protocol for the phase 3 trial is disclosed.

But investors might get an idea of the strength of the data before that from Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ:INCY)’s partner Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS), which can opt in to pay for the expanded indication. The pharma will presumably get to see a lot more data than we have in the press release. Novartis opting in would be a good sign that knowledgeable people think the data is strong enough to pursue further.

The article Pop-Worthy Data, Incyte, but Let’s See More originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Orelli has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Gilead Sciences. 

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