Merck Shares Higher Following Bristol-Myers' Phase 3 Disappointment

Shares of

fall 7.15% following

and management's announcement that the company will continue Phase 1 studies of nivolimab and Yervoy in lung cancer before advancing to Phase 3. BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei's noted that many investors expected a rapid advancement to stage 3 and this news will disappoint. Arfaei added that Bristol-Myer's management comments may be interpreted as a sign of caution. The analyst reported that this news is “incrementally positive” for

who is developing a competing therapy in lung cancer, MK- 3475. Arfaei rates Bristol-Myers as Market Perform with a $56.00 price target, and Merck as Outperform with a $56.00 price target. Bristol-Myers is currently down 4.75% at $51.39 and shares of Merck are up 0.87% at $52.05.