MEI Pharma, Inc. (MEIP), will be presenting data on Pracinostat, in combination with azacitidine in patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) at a poster presentation at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting on December 10, 2012.
An abstract of the presentation, entitled "Very high rates of clinical and cytogenetic response with the combination of the histone deacetylase inhibitor Pracinostat (SB939) and 5-azacitidine in high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome," submitted by Dr. Quintas-Cardama and Dr. Garcia-Manero of the MD Anderson Cancer Center, is now available online at www.hematology.org. The poster will be presented at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time from Hall B1-B2, Level 1, Building B of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
"We are very encouraged not only by the response rates reported to date, but also by the rapid appearance of the responses with the combination of Pracinostat and azacitidine," said Daniel P. Gold, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of MEI Pharma. "These data are particularly compelling given that most patients in the study had treatment-related MDS and expressed high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities, both of which carry a poor prognosis. With these data in hand, combined with the capital raise we announced yesterday, we expect to be in a position to rapidly advance to the next stage of development and initiate a randomized Phase II trial of Pracinostat in combination with azacitidine in patients with MDS by the second quarter of next year."
The American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting is sure to get some coverage here, and positive data could rally the stock significantly. Therefore, I bought some shares of it as a catalyst trade.
Chart:
The stock appears to consolidating in a pennant, which indicates it can make another huge run. It hasn't gone parabolic -- it's in a nice up channel. I would expect volume to pick up as the company nears the 12/10/12 potentially big catalyst event.
