Puma Biotechnology: Stock Price Triples on Drug Test Success

Puma Biotechnology, which recently had success in testing a new breast cancer drug, has become a hot roller-coaster stock and a possible target for a takeover. It was down 58 percent earlier this year, but just hit a triple and jumped 289 percent.

Shares of Puma Biotechnology could even quadruple with Tuesday's news of its drug PB272, or neratinib and its Phase III clinical trial with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer patients, according to CNBC.

"Puma enrolled 2,821 patients in 41 countries … according to the company. All of the patients had undergone surgery and adjuvant treatment with trastuzumab, a prescription drug that treats breast cancer, it said," CNBC reported. "In the end, Puma found 33 percent of patients treated by neratinib resulted in 'disease free survival,' versus those who received the placebo, the company said."

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The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch reported that Puma's stock jumped $170.83, or 289 percent to $229.86 in midday trading on Wednesday. The volume was about 14 times the daily average over the past month of 411,453 shares.

"Traders of Puma Biotech's stock are used to roller-coaster conditions," Market Watch's Tomi Kilgore wrote. "The stock soared 68 percent on Dec. 5, 2013, and tripled to what was then an all-time closing high of $139.92 on Jan. 21, following positive data from a Phase II trial of its breast cancer treatment. Since then through Tuesday's close of $59.03, however, the stock has tumbled 58 percent."

CNBC's Jim Cramer said the results will likely catch the attention of other drug companies.

"You're going to see the stock quadruple because this is a remarkable number," Cramer told CNBC. "Puma was a company without anything that you really felt was good to maybe being one of the most important products in the world."

He said biotech giants, like GlaxoSmithKline, "needs the kind of growth Puma has."

The Los Angeles-based Puma Biotech, which does not have a drug on the market, is planning to apply for U.S. regulatory approval early next year based on the positive results from its Phase III study, according to Money Morning.com.

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