Agenus investors wake up to inevitability

Ever since Merck & Co’s Keynote-826 cervical cancer study of Keytruda read out positively in September an FDA rejection had been staring Agenus in the face, as Evaluate Vantage had stressed at the time.

Yet when the inevitable train crash happened on Friday – Agenus confirmed that it was withdrawing its accelerated approval filing for balstilimab in this cancer – its stock fell 22%. Perhaps some investors had been betting on not selling the shares until just before the December 16 Pdufa date, in which case the withdrawal would have come as an early shock.