What's Behind ImmunoGen Inc.'s Brief Dip on Tuesday?

What happened

Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN), a clinical-stage biotech developing novel cancer drugs, slipped 10% in early morning trading despite a lack of significant news. The shares quickly recovered, narrowing the loss to 4.1% as of 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

So what

We really haven't heard anything new from ImmunoGen since the company released full-year 2017 results and a pipeline update that sent the stock rising yesterday. Despite today's loss, the stock has gained around 55% since the beginning of the year.

Chalk drawing of a chart that rises and then falls

Image source: Getty Images.

Without any product sales, the most important figure in last week's earnings release was the $267.1 million in cash and cash equivalents on Immunogen's balance sheet at the end of 2017. That could be more than enough to finish an ongoing pivotal trial with the company's lead candidate, mirvetuximab.

Now what

If the ovarian-cancer patients taking mirvetuximab survive significantly longer without tumor growth than those given standard chemo, Immunogen stock will soar when it reads out results of the ongoing Forward 1 trial. Immunogen doesn't expect to finish enrolling patients into the Forward 1 trial until midyear, but we'll get a sneak peek in the first quarter when independent data monitors run a futility analysis.

If the Forward 2 trial is allowed to continue -- combining mirvetuximab with several available blockbuster cancer therapies -- investors will want to look out for that data. Also later this year, investors can look for early-stage data from a couple of blood-cancer candidates that ImmunoGen picked up from Jazz Pharmaceuticals for $75 million upfront last summer.

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Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends ImmunoGen. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.