BGNE LEGN Sees Single Day Shares Slump

On December 10, leading Chinese biotech companies BeiGene (Nasdaq: BGNE) and Legend Biotech (Nasdaq: LEGN) both faced significant declines in their stock prices.

• BeiGene saw a sharp 9.69% drop, closing at $187.50.

• Legend Biotech was down by 8.96% for the day.

Key Updates:

• BeiGene presented new data at the ASH 2024 Annual Meeting in San Diego, showcasing its BTK inhibitor, Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), which has shown leadership in treating chronic lymphoma leukemia (CLL).

• Legend Biotech also presented at ASH 2024, unveiling data on its cell therapy Carvykti for multiple lymphomas.

Analyst Commentary:

• Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, Max Nilsen and Melody Deniz, highlighted that new data for Nurix’s novel BTK degrader (NX-5948) presented at ASH could potentially make the asset more broadly active and better tolerated than BeiGene’s Brukinsa and Lilly’s Jaypirca for CLL.

• For Legend Biotech’s Carvykti, they pointed out that Arcellx-Gilead’s Anito-Cel might emerge as a competitor. Arcellx’s iMMAgine-1 Phase 2 data showed a 97% overall response rate and 62% complete response, with promising progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. These results were comparable to Carvykti’s outcomes in the Cartitude-1 trial, although Arcellx’s trial had patients with fewer prior treatments (median of 4 lines vs. 6 in Cartitude-1).

Stock Performance:

• Both companies are now trading well below their year-highs:

  • BGNE was priced near $250 in October.

  • LEGN peaked at over $68 in March.

This slump signals some of the difficulties facing these leading Chinese biotech firms, even amidst strong trial data and competition in the biotech space.