Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen downgraded Novocure to Market Perform and lowered his price target for the shares to $36 from $41. The analyst cites another quarter of flattish U.S. prescription trends for the downgrade and sees a lack of major catalysts heading into 2019. While year-over-year Optune growth has been solid, there has been little sequential volume growth in the U.S. during 2018 despite positive data and treatment guideline upgrade in the past 12 months, Biegelsen tells investors in a research note. And he sees no clear catalyst in 2019 that would meaningfully accelerate its penetration rate.

Novocure announced the results of the METIS phase 3 clinical trial in brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer will be presented at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, to be held from May 31 to June 4. METIS was a randomized phase 3 clinical trial of stereotactic radiosurgery with or without Tumor Treating Fields therapy for patients with 1-10 brain metastases from NSCLC. In March, Novocure announced METIS met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in time to intracranial progression for adult patients with Tumor Treating Fields therapy and supportive care compared to supportive care alone. "We are honored to present the results of the METIS clinical trial as a late-breaking abstract this year at ASCO, the largest global oncology conference," said Asaf Danziger, Novocure's CEO. "Patients with brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer need more treatment options. The METIS trial demonstrated that TTFields Therapy delayed intracranial progression while preserving neurological function, which is critical for these underserved patients. We look forward to robust discussion around the positive results of the METIS clinical trial, as well as other TTFields therapy program updates at ASCO 2024."