The oh-so-volatile Biovest International is once again bouncing all over the place in terms of daily gains and losses after reaching a recent high of over two bucks last month before dropping back down to a low of sixty two cents during last week's trading.
On Monday, the company issued a PR citing follow-on data and additional information regarding a Phase III trial that tested the company's immunotherapeutic cancer agent, BiovaxID, in treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in first remission.
Additional studies are currently in progress.
In additional news, Biovest announced a $350,000 contract manufacturing agreement with a yet-to-be named entity. For this un-named client, Biovest will manufacture a monoclonal antibody diagnostic product at the company's cell culture center in Minneapolis.
Contract manufacturing revenue is - and has been - a part of Biovest's game plan, but the monetary benefits are still well below levels to sustain clinical trials to support the pipeline.
I still like BVTI as a longer term speculative cancer immunotherapy pick, but it's well worth playing the price swings (seems like forever ago that this puppy traded for under a dime) to bank some profits when possible because this company has been playing up that BiovaxID Phase III data for some time now.
That said, any cancer immunotherapeutic treatment that turns out a success - or is even rumored to become one - creates a whole lot of hype and can lead to significant returns. It's also worth noting, however, that few do succeed, hence the need to flip a few shares on any spikes created by hype.
Cancer immunotherapy vaccines are the next wave of the future for cancer treatment, in my opinion, and Biovest could be right there in the mix. As always, while investing for monetary gains, we need to remember the real benefits that may be provided by these vaccines; a potentially longer and more stable life for those unlucky enough to be stricken by the deadly disease.
Disclosure: No position.
Posted earlier at VFC's NEW Stock House.
