Argos Confirms Positive Trial Results

By Jim Pearce • December 7, 2016

During an “Investor Day” presentation to Wall Street analysts this morning in Manhattan, Argos Therapeutics (ARGS) confirmed that the critical ADAPT-3 trial for its AGS-003 cancer immunotherapy treatment is on schedule and appears headed for commercial use in the near future. The company announced two developments that suggest this drug is meeting expectations and will be submitted for FDA approval once this trial is completed next year: (1) in press releases and other public communications they will no longer refer to it by its trial code name of AGS-003 but will begin using its intended generic brand name of “Rocapuldencel-T”, and (2) additional clinical trials in multiple adjacent cancer treatment areas will commence in 2017 using the same underlying drug with the objective of also eventually achieving commercial use. The next meeting of the IDMC (Independent Data Monitoring Committee) is scheduled for February, at which time it is expect to recommend completion of the Rocapuldencel-T trial with the intent to submit for FDA approval.

This is all good news, and points to a major event for Argos in 2017 when the trial is completed and FDA approval is requested. This confirms our thesis for owning ARGS, so we reiterate our buy recommendation for ARGS up to $8.

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Winston Scheer

12/07/16 ‐ 12:55pm ET December 7, 2016 at 12:55pm ET

Great news from ARGS and this is just the beginning of this proven concept. Now if Duarte’s statement that the stock will go “straight up” is true, we are in for a wild ride to the top. Stay tuned!

Chris H

12/07/16 ‐ 3:21pm ET December 7, 2016 at 3:21pm ET

Jim ….. Can you comment on how this affects your recommendation?
Argos Therapeutics Inc. (ARGS) to be acquired by a consortium led by Wasatch Advisors Inc.

Thanks!

Jim Pearce

12/07/16 ‐ 4:21pm ET December 7, 2016 at 4:21pm ET

That was an equity investment of $60 million that I commented on many times during the first half of this year while it was happening (you can enter the symbol ARGS in the search box at the top/right of this page to scroll through past articles on Argos). But that is not an acquisition; the consortium acquired a minority interest in the company. Here is the press release from March that describes the terms: http://ir.argostherapeutics.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=959072

Chris H

12/08/16 ‐ 6:13am ET December 8, 2016 at 6:13am ET

Thank you Jim! I appreciate you response! I need to search the BTP website in the future prior to asking such questions 🙂

Lyubov Litvin

12/09/16 ‐ 5:21pm ET December 9, 2016 at 5:21pm ET

What is going up with MVIS stock and what is the future of the company?

Lucille Layne

12/09/16 ‐ 6:05pm ET December 9, 2016 at 6:05pm ET

Please help me understand as in the 1st part of November of this year I had read where you suggested we sale Argos which I did the 10th of Nov. Later you mentioned it was a buy. Did I miss something??

Jim Pearce

12/10/16 ‐ 7:44am ET December 10, 2016 at 7:44am ET

We did not sell ARGS, and in fact the only update we issued on it in November was fairly positive (http://www.investingdaily.com/breakthrough-tech-profits/articles/29399/argos-issues-healthy-earnings-report/). But we did sell JUNO recently after a trial subject patient died (http://www.investingdaily.com/breakthrough-tech-profits/articles/29517/juno-falls-on-clinical-trial-interruption/) so I’m wondering if that is what you are thinking of?

Wk Alphin

01/05/17 ‐ 11:25am ET January 5, 2017 at 11:25am ET

Looks like ARGS is finally breaking back above $5! Must be some good news on the way?

Jim Pearce

01/05/17 ‐ 3:02pm ET January 5, 2017 at 3:02pm ET

Possibly. Earlier this week Gilead (GILD) announced it hired a new M&A executive in its oncology division, sparking rumors that it may be making an acquisition soon (such as ARGS): http://finance.yahoo.com/news/alessandro-riva-md-join-gilead-213000822.html.

But even if Gilead isn’t interested in doing that, this development is attracting investor attention to the space: http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2017/01/04/gilead-sciences-with-new-hire-ma-might-be-on-the-way/?mod=yahoobarrons&ru=yahoo&yptr=yahoo.

Lucille Layne

01/09/17 ‐ 12:55pm ET January 9, 2017 at 12:55pm ET

What is your opinion about SLAB. I noticed after making steady gains the past 8 months it has gone up & down & then down from the high. Is the company still good or out of favor or what? Anything to be concerned about?
Also what about CISCO. In the Dec. 28, 2016 issue of Personal Finance under income portfolio you said to sell. However since then I read, I think in Stocks to Watch, there was a glowing report on CISCO as a good buy. So what is the story?

Jim Pearce

01/09/17 ‐ 1:14pm ET January 9, 2017 at 1:14pm ET

We sold a Cisco bond out of the PF income portfolio, but that is not a reflection of our opinion of CSCO stock. The bond market is going to be operating under a very different set of circumstances now that the Fed has announced its intentions to raise interest rates several more times this year.

SLAB has had a nice run for us (+47% over past nine months) so its not surprising that is has plateaued a bit, but it is a stock I believe will be acquired later this year so we are still holding on to it to pick up that extra premium if’when it occurs. Thank you.

Rick

02/22/17 ‐ 8:45am ET February 22, 2017 at 8:45am ET

Should be an interesting day, ARGS trading suspended on bad news:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/argos-therapeutics-cancer-treatment-study-recommended-to-be-discontinued-for-futility-2017-02-22

Rick

02/22/17 ‐ 9:00am ET February 22, 2017 at 9:00am ET

Unfortunately, it is not good news:

http://seekingalpha.com/news/3245239-late-stage-study-unlikely-show-treatment-benefit-argos-therapeutics-lead-product-candidate

Jim Pearce

02/22/17 ‐ 9:22am ET February 22, 2017 at 9:22am ET

I will be issuing an update on ARGS later today once I have read through all the material, but on the surface this appears to be directly contrary to what the company had been signalling over the past two months.

Med

02/23/17 ‐ 9:31am ET February 23, 2017 at 9:31am ET

Jim & Joe , The question is : Is it really a show stopper to move fwd with the FDA assessment / approval whether or NOT IDMC approves it by allowing the completion of the Rocapuldencel-T trial..?
Cheers

Jim Pearce

02/23/17 ‐ 4:17pm ET February 23, 2017 at 4:17pm ET

I spoke with Dr. Duarte, and he will provide an in-depth update on Monday after he has the weekend to digest the data and review the report. Until then, I don’t see much point in selling ARGS into such a weak market so its a ‘hold’ until further notice.

Rick Davidson

02/25/17 ‐ 11:57pm ET February 25, 2017 at 11:57pm ET

Jim we all make bad calls based on what we think is valid based not just on co!s info but on historical data checks . So my only question I have as a new member would be . Did anyone do even a soft background check on these guys . In terms of business best practices and or talk to ex employees?

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