NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 11, 2017 / U.S. markets were relatively quiet Wednesday as investors analyzed the latest batch of corporate earnings. Additionally, President Trump on Wednesday announced that he has dismissed FBI Director James Comey. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intraday low of 20,884.15 before settling to close at 20,943.11, a decrease of 0.16 percent, while the S&P 500 Index hit an intraday low of 2,392.79 before settling to close at 2,399.63, an increase of 0.11 percent. As earnings season is coming to a close, investors now await data to provide a better picture of the health of the U.S. economy.

"A lot of us have Q2 significantly stronger. Economic data really needs to show they can support our forecasts," said Paul Christopher, head global market strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

RDI Initiates Coverage on:

Array Biopharma Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=ARRY

Verastem Inc.
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=VSTM

Array Biopharma's shares spiked 20.09 percent to close at $8.43 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $7.81 and $9.24 on volume of 17.48 million shares traded. The company reported a net loss of $35.3 million, or ($0.21) per share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2017, compared to a net loss of $22.7 million, or ($0.16) per share, for the same quarter a year ago. Shares of Array Biopharma have fallen approximately 4.1 percent year-to-date.

On May 9th, Array reported top-line results from Part 2 of the Phase 3 COLUMBUS study evaluating binimetinib, a MEK inhibitor, and encorafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, in patients with BRAF-mutant advanced, unresectable or metastatic melanoma.

"The robust PFS benefit and tolerability observed with binimetinib plus encorafenib in COLUMBUS suggest the combination represents a potential important addition to the MEK/BRAF treatment landscape for patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma," said Ron Squarer, Chief Executive Officer, Array BioPharma.

Access RDI's Array Biopharma Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=ARRY

Verastem's shares jumped 18.45 percent to close at $2.44 a share on Wednesday. The stock traded between $2.03 and $2.50 on volume of 1.73 million shares traded. The company reported a net loss of $13.0 million, or a loss of $0.35 per share, for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $8.3 million, or a loss of $0.22 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Research and development expenses totaled $8.4 million in the quarter. As of March 31, 2017, Verastem had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $72.6 million. Shares of Verastem have gained approximately 117.86 percent year-to-date.

"Following the presentation of positive data from the DYNAMO? study of duvelisib in indolent non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (iNHL) at the American Society of Hematology conference in December 2016, we are focused on executing against the important milestones that lie ahead, beginning with reporting top-line duvelisib data from the Phase 3 DUO? study in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which is expected mid-year 2017," said Robert Forrester, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verastem.

Access RDI's Verastem Research Report at:
https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=VSTM

Our Actionable Research on Array Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) and Verastem Inc. (NASDAQ: VSTM) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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SOURCE: RDInvesting.com