Wells says Summit, Akeso data ‘not the bull case,’ but not ‘bear case either’

Wells Fargo notes that Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) partner Akeso (AKESF) received approval from China’s NMPA for ivonescimab as a monotherapy for the first-line treatment of PD-L1-positive non-small cell lung cancer in patients who are negative for epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutations and anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene mutations and shared immature overall survival data. The hazard ratio of 0.784 means a 22% survival benefit, which is “pretty strong,” but given that these data are from China and need to be replicated in a U.S. study, investors “would have liked some more margin of error and a HR of 0.70-0.75 from our conversations,” the analyst says. These are “not bad data,” according to the analyst, who says the data are “not quite the bull case, but not the bear case either.” The firm would be buyers of Summit and BioNTech (BNTX) on weakness as it is “too early to write off PD1/VEGF” and the “potential is still there,” adds the analyst, who has an Overweight rating and $30 price target on Summit shares.