APTO - Why Aptose Biosciences Shares Jumped Today
Shares of Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ: APTO) are up 11.5% as of 3 p.m. EST on Wednesday. This nice gain followed a huge move for the biotech stock on Monday. There were two major catalysts for Aptose. First, the company presented promising preclinical data for experimental drug CG-806 at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting on Sunday. Second, Merck announced on Monday that it planned to acquire ArQule for $2.7 billion. ArQule's lead candidate, ARQ 531, is a Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor -- just like CG-806.
Positive news often lights a fire beneath clinical-stage biotech stocks. And when there's two positive developments right on top of each other, it's like pouring gasoline on the fire. That's what we're seeing happen with Aptose.
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