Why Aveo Pharmaceuticals Shares Plunged

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of cancer therapeutics company Aveo Pharmaceuticals sank 10% today after the final overall survival results of its kidney cancer drug tivozanib disappointed Wall Street.

So what: Results from the phase 3 study showed a median overall survival rate of 28.8 months for tivozanib versus a median of 29.3 months for Onyx Pharmaceutical's Nexavar, reinforcing concerns over tivozanib's risks relative to competing treatments. While the greater risk of death was not statistically significant, analysts are worried that tivozanib simply isn't special enough to stand out in an increasingly crowded space.

Now what: Tivozanib is currently under FDA review, and an approval decision is expected by July 28.

"We continue to make significant progress with tivozanib, including reporting the final overall survival results from TIVO-1, receiving the FDA's acceptance of the NDA submission and expanding tivozanib clinical development into patients with triple negative breast cancer," said President and CEO Tuan Ha-Ngoc.

So while Aveo remains just too speculative for average Fools, today's double-digit drop -- the stock is now off about 50% from its 52-week high -- might be an attractive opportunity for biotech-savvy contrarians.

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The article Why Aveo Pharmaceuticals Shares Plunged originally appeared on Fool.com.

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