Five Prime looks to turn a corner

With Five Prime’s stock surging 300% overnight the company will be hoping to put a disastrous three years behind it. The reason for the sudden enthusiasm lies in survival data with bemarituzumab, a wholly owned asset the group had touted last year, but which until now had little to back up the hype.

The findings, in the Fight trial in first-line stomach cancer, position the company’s lead project as the first mover in a new approach, FGFR2B inhibition, with little competition. Of course they come with caveats, and the stock move has to be seen in the context of a share price that had lost 90% of its value since 2016.