FDA-approved stomach cancer drug sends Blueprint Medicines’ stock up before resettling

Blueprint Medicines’ stock surged briefly Friday before settling back down by the market's close.

The drugmaker opened at $82.93 a share, hit $87 midday and closed out at $82.10.

The 2 percent spike came as Blueprint won its first Food and Drug Administration approval for a new stomach cancer therapy targeted to treat a rare gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

The treatment, Ayvakit, shrank tumors in 84 percent of all 43 patients in a phase 1 trial, with 7 percent of patients showing no signs of cancer following treatment. Blueprint Medicines the FDA milestone starts a new era of precision medicine.

Ayvakit “is the first of what we hope will be many approved medicines enabled by our research platform," Blueprint CEO Jeff Albers said in a statement. “As we deliver to patients and their health care providers, we aim to fortify our leadership in the field of precision medicine and build a foundation for our broader portfolio by pairing our strong research and development capabilities with an equally talented commercial organization focused on addressing patient needs, diagnostic testing and enabling access.”

Blueprint did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOX Business.

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Ayvakit will launch within a week, according to a Blueprint press statement. It will taut a wholesale acquisition cost of $32,000 for a 30-day supply, regardless of the dose strength.

Total health care costs associated with gastrointestinal stromal tumors were about $4,464 per patient per month in 2015, a report from The Journal of Medical Economics showed.

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Andrew Berens, an analyst at capital market company SVB Leerink, told FiercePharma that Ayvakit’s price is “justifiable,” where “the drug has superlative efficacy and no competition."

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Blueprint’s stock has surged nearly 28 percent on the year.