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.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source Fool.com
