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Tango Therapeutics (TNGX) Rises 20% in a Month: Here's Why

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Tango Therapeutics (TNGX - Free Report) is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing precision medicines targeting oncology indications. The company utilizes its proprietary technology platform to identify and advance novel drug targets for tumor suppressor gene loss in defined patient populations with high unmet medical needs.

Tango Therapeuticshas three programs in its pipeline undergoing clinical development, all focused on cancer indications. The company’s lead pipeline candidate is TNG908, an MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor designed to work selectively in cancer cells with an MTAP deletion in an early-stage study.

TNGX is also evaluating TNG462, a next-generation MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor and TNG260, a CoREST inhibitor, in separate phase I/II studies across multiple tumor types and STK11-mutant cancers, respectively.

Since the past month, shares of Tango Therapeutics have increased 19.6% against the industry’s 6.0% fall.

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This upside is attributable to the company’s progress with its pipeline candidates. TNGX is also advancing well with the development of its existing pipeline.

Earlier this year, TNG908 proof-of-mechanism as an MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor was demonstrated by marked differential PRMT5 inhibition in MTAP-deleted cancers compared with normal tissue. Management also recently dosed the first patients in the TNG462 and TNG260 phase I/II studies, expanding the company’s pipeline to three clinical programs.

Recently, the FDA cleared Tango Therapeutics’ investigational new drug (“IND”) application which sought approval to start clinical studies on TNG348, a novel USP1 inhibitor. Management will start clinical studies on TNG348 to treat BRCA1/2 mutant and other homologous recombination deficient cancers in first-half 2024.

Another vital factor that benefitted Tango’s share price was the recent buyout offer given to another oncology-focused biotech company, Mirati Therapeutics , by pharma giant Bristol Myers (BMY - Free Report) .

Like TNGX, Mirati is also developing similar cancer drug candidates. Mirati is also developing an MRTX1719, a potential first-in-class MTA-cooperative PRMT5 inhibitor, in early-stage clinical study across several tumor types with MTAP deletion, including NSCLC, cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) and melanoma. A phase II study of the candidate has been targeted in the first half of 2024.

Last Sunday, Bristol Myers offered to acquire all the outstanding shares of Mirati for $58 per share in cash, aggregating to $4.8 billion. In addition, existing Mirati shareholders will also receive one non-tradeable contingent value right per share, entitling the holder to receive an additional $12 per share tied to a regulatory milestone about MRTX1719 approval. The CVR adds another $1 billion to the transaction, bringing the deal's total value up to $5.8 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in the early next year.

The deal will also add Mirati’s sole marketed drug, Krazati, approved for second-line KRASG12C mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indication, to Bristol Myers’ portfolio of marketed drugs. The deal is also a strategic fit for BMY as it intends to shift from its mature product portfolio, which faces generic competition due to new drugs.

With no marketed drugs in its portfolio, Tango Therapeutics only generates collaboration revenues received from Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) .

Tango Therapeutics partnered with Gilead in 2018 to discover, develop and market a pipeline of innovative targeted immune evasion therapies for cancer patients. Per the terms of the agreement, TNGX is responsible for finding and validating targets and advancing select programs through clinical proof-of-concept. On the other hand, Gilead has the right to exercise an option to acquire worldwide rights for up to 15 targets developed under the agreement.

The collaboration with an industry-leading pharma giant like Gilead is positive as it provides Tango with years of drug-making experience and a commercial partner with a well-established supply chain. These revenues will likely help TNGX narrow down its losses until it can generate income regularly.

 

Zacks Rank

Tango currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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