Why Is Vir Biotechnology Stock Up Today?

Vir Biotechnology VIR -1.72% ▼ stock rocketed higher on Tuesday after the commercial-stage immunology company announced a strategic collaboration with Astellas Pharma (ALPMF). Under the terms of this agreement, the two companies will work together to advance VIR-5500. This is an investigational PRO-XTEN dual-masked CD3 T-cell engager targeting PSMA for the treatment of prostate cancer.

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Vir Biotechnology will receive $335 million in upfront and near-term payments, as well as a near-term $20 million milestone payment from Astellas Pharma. The development cost of VIR-5500 will be shared, with Vir Biotechnology responsible for 40% and Astellas Pharma responsible for 60% of all costs. Vir Biotechnology will also continue the Phase 1 trial of VIR-5500 until Astellas Pharma takes over.

Marianne De Backer, CEO of Vir Biotechnology, said, “Astellas is an ideal collaborator for the VIR-5500 program given the company’s successful track record advancing therapies across the treatment continuum, building blockbuster franchises and delivering value to patients through strategic development alliances with other biotech partners. This collaboration will enable more rapid advancement of VIR-5500 to potentially benefit more people living with prostate cancer. We believe this collaboration reflects confidence in our PRO-XTEN platform, which has broad potential across multiple solid tumor indications.”

Vir Biotechnology Stock Movement Today

Vir Biotechnology stock was up 41.32% in pre-market trading this morning, following a 1.72% drop yesterday. The shares have rallied 23.22% year-to-date but were still down 18.35% over the past 12 months.

With today’s news came heavy trading of VIR stock, as some 4.8 million shares changed hands, compared to a three-month daily average trading volume of about 1.7 million units.

Is Vir Biotechnology Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Vir Biotechnology is Strong Buy, based on seven Buy ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average VIR stock price target of $19.83, representing a potential 166.94% upside for the shares.

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