Bellicum: Encouraging Data With A Discouraging Share Price

Summary

• Bellicum Pharmaceuticals recently reported promising data for BPX-601 at ASCO. The company's GoCAR-T program is taking aim at solid tumors and could be a leading therapy if approved.
• The share price has fallen about 80% from its high about a year ago. I analyze the charts to see if there is any signs of a potential reversal.
• I review my top near-term and long-term downside risks for the company.
• I layout my terms for a buy and provide my plan for managing that potential position as BLCM approaches key milestone events.

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (OTCPK:BLCM) just reported interim data for their BPX-601 product candidate in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer at ASCO. The data confirmed that the company’s “GoCAR-T” technology increases expansion and tenacity of CAR-T cells in the treated patients. Eight of the twelve patients treated with BPX-601 and a single dose of rimiducid experienced stable disease and 3 patients had tumor size reduction of 10-24%. I was encouraged to see BPX-603 continue to report solid marks in the PSMA indications and is shaping up to be one of the first CAR-T products to have a significant impact on solid tumors. I just wish the street would start to recognize BPX-603 and the rest of Bellicum’s developing pipeline of cell therapies. In less than a year, BLCM has traded down from above $10.00 a share to $2.00. Is it finally time for me to press the buy button BLCM?

I intend to review the ASCO BPX-601 data and discuss why these positive results were critical for Bellicum. In addition, I review the charts and share my plan for finally starting a position in BLCM.

Source BLCM

BPX-601 ASCO

Bellicum’s original GoCAR-T, BPX-601, integrates the company’s “inducible co-activation domain” branded “iMC,” which is intended to deliver a potent enhancement to T-cell proliferation and persistence and permit the CAR-T to control pivotal immune inhibitory mechanisms essential to tumor growth and survival. The BPX-601 program is being assessing GoCAR-T as a therapy for pancreatic, gastric, and prostate cancers that express the prostate stem cell antigen “PSCA”.

Figure 1: GoCAR-T vs Contemporary CAR-T (Source BLCM)

BPX-601’s phase I/II trial registered 18 PSCA-positive pancreatic cancer patients that were treated with BPX-601. The opening 13 patients were administered BPX-601 succeeding Cy lymphodepletion, and 5 patients in the newest cohort had a Flu/Cy lymphodepletion administered

Analyst’s Disclosure:I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in BLCM over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.