Shares of a French biotech company Abivax rose on Tuesday after it released new information about its flagship bowel disease drug, reversing heavy losses since the beginning of the month when a similar investigation had investors questioning the drug’s future.
Abivax stock ended trading up 34% at 111.7 euros. The move comes after a nearly 44 percent crash on June 2, following a set of data showing increased cancer incidence in patients taking high doses of its investigational drug befazimod for ulcerative colitis (UC).
Additional data from a recent ongoing clinical trial, released late Monday, showed that the fatal infections were consistent with rates typically seen in UC patients. The company also said that more than 37% of patients who did not respond to the initial treatment, had achieved clinical relief after treatment with a dose of 50 mg, after about 10 months.
“These findings suggest that a reasonable proportion of patients who do not respond at first may derive significant benefit from long-term exposure to treatment,” Abivax said..
The trial was a so-called maintenance study that evaluated remission rates among patients with ulcerative colitis at 44 weeks. Monday’s review was the second, additional part of the Phase 3 test.
Jefferies analysts called the update “supportive,” but said they doubted whether this would be enough for investors given “the cancer risk may be difficult to reduce, the risky approach, the capital requirements, the M&A revival approach.”
Abivax has been positioned as a prime takeover spot, with unconfirmed rumors that several Big Pharma companies are eyeing the Paris-based biotech.
Although it is not uncommon for Abivax or other clinical-stage biotech companies to see stock change following data on their earnings, and often only assets, Abivax has grown into a major player with a market cap of 8 billion euros after shares gained nearly 1,700% by 2025.
Shares are down 14% year to date in Tuesday’s trading, but are poised to retrace their declines earlier this month when they traded at just over 111 euros ($127) a share.
Shares of Abivax in the past year.
Analysts at Jefferies said that professional investors and doctors may put the bad news behind them, but generalist investors may hesitate to own the shares.
Earlier this month, Abivax reported seven different cancers in the study group, all of which were considered unrelated to the treatment.
“The accumulated extended safety data further strengthens our confidence in the long-term safety profile of obefazimod and strengthens the favorable risk profile of our program as we prepare our plan. [new drug application] launched later this year,” CEO Marc de Garidel said in a statement on Monday.
Abivax said it is still looking to submit its NDA to the US Food and Drug Administration for obefazimod in the fourth quarter of 2026. It previously said that the launch could be in 2027, but it is widely believed that the company will be acquired before then.
Analysts described the experimental drug as the most effective treatment for ulcerative colitis. Abivax is also testing a drug for Crohn’s disease, opening up the multi-billion dollar market for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
A trial testing the drug in patients with Crohn’s disease is expected in mid-2027.
