The Race Oncology Ltd (ASX: RAC) share price has shot out of the gates this morning on the back of positive clinical trial results.

Race Oncology shares opened 74.6% higher today and raced to an intra-day high of 60 cents in early trade – a 90.48% surge. Shares have slightly pulled back since and are sitting 65.08% higher at the time of writing at 52 cents.

Race Oncology is a pharmaceutical company with a focus on later-stage drug assets in the cancer field. Its flagship product is a cancer drug called Bisantrene. The company is currently pursuing a ‘5-Path’ clinical development strategy that involves parallel US and Australian clinical trials for Bisantrene in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

Why is the Race Oncology share price skyrocketing?

This morning, Race Oncology reported clinical data from the Phase II clinical trial of Bisantree conducted at Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre.

The open label, single agent trial studied 10 patients with relapsed or refractory AML who, on average, had failed three prior lines of treatment. Race Oncology stated that Bisantree was found to be “well tolerated” and after a single course of treatment, had an overall clinical response rate of 40%.

According to Race, relapsed or refractory AML remains a significant therapeutic challenge. While meaningful therapeutic gains have been achieved in recent years with the introduction of new targeted drugs, the company believes clinical outcomes are still unsatisfactory.

Commenting on the trial results, Professor Borje Andersson, chair of Race’s advisory board, said:

“Importantly, in this study we saw a meaningful reduction in leukaemic disease burden and an overall response rate in 40% of the patients. While we must study the drug further, it appears that with this kind of response, bisantrene based therapy may have potential to serve as an important bridge to an allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients who otherwise have few therapeutic options.”

What next?

Executive chair Dr John Cullity also shared his thoughts, commenting: “This drug is talking to us. As this was an open label, single agent trial, we can be confident that it was the bisantrene exposure which generated the positive results.”

“The patient cohort had advanced AML and had previously failed an average of three lines of therapy, so they were always going to be tough to treat. A 40% overall response rate after only a single course of treatment markedly exceeds expectations. It’s a hugely promising result and one which reinforces our development plans for bisantrene.”

In line with Race’s ‘5-Path’ clinical development strategy, a follow-up study combining Bisantrene with other anti-leukemic drugs is currently in advanced planning.

The company will also hold an investor briefing to discuss the significance of the trial results in more detail on Wednesday, 17 June.

With a current share price of 52 cents, Race Oncology’s market capitalisation is sitting at around $60 million. So if you’re looking to invest in larger and more liquid companies, check out the top ASX growth shares in the report below.

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Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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Looking for quality ASX 200 shares to buy right now?

Here are two of my top picks: Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) and Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD).

Although from very different industries, both companies are dominant in their operating markets. I also believe they both have strong, long-term growth prospects. As such, I feel they are well positioned for above average share price growth over the next five years.

Ansell

Ansell has proven to be one of Australia’s most successful companies for over a century. The company manufactures gloves and personal protective equipment for industrial and medical markets and its operations are underpinned by a strong research and development program.

Ansell has been experiencing very strong demand for some of its products during the coronavirus crisis. As revealed in a recent business update, sales of the company’s hand and body protection products have been extremely strong throughout the pandemic. These ranges of products are industry certified for protection against infections and viruses such as COVID-19. This robust demand during the pandemic has helped push the Ansell share price higher over the past few months.

Ansell has broad geographic diversity with sales operations across more than 50 countries. The company also has a number of new product lines that position it well for continued growth over the next few years. An increasing proportion of sales are being generated in emerging markets which, I believe, also strengthens Ansell’s growth prospects.

Ansell pays a forward annual dividend yield of 2.05%. In its latest business update, Ansell reiterated its FY 2020 earning per share guidance in the range of US112 cents to US122 cents.

Sydney Airport

The Sydney Airport share price has fallen by over 30% since mid-January. This is not surprising due to the sharp fall in traffic numbers resulting from government enforced travel restrictions. In its April traffic performance update, Sydney Airport revealed that total passenger traffic in April was down by 97.5%, compared to April 2019.

Notwithstanding this, I believe the company’s share selloff has been a bit overdone. As such, I feel this ASX 200 share could provide patient investors who have long-term investment horizons with a good buying opportunity.

In addition, the overall impact of coronavirus in Australia looks set to be less severe than first anticipated. Therefore, it appears likely the length of the lockdown period will be shorter than initially expected. This will hopefully see domestic passenger numbers start to pick up significantly in the months ahead. While it will take longer for international passenger numbers to pick up, they will eventually recover.

I believe Sydney Airport remains well positioned for strong growth over the next decade. It has a monopoly status in its market. Furthermore, once the COVID-19 crisis is over, I’m confident the long-term trend of rising passenger numbers driven by a rising population and growing tourism will continue.

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Motley Fool contributor Phil Harpur has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Ansell Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has bounced back strongly on Tuesday and is up over 3% in early trade.

This follows a positive night of trade on U.S. markets which saw both the Dow Jones and Nasdaq indices recover from an early sell off to record solid gains.

While a large number of ASX 200 shares are pushing higher today, one standout has been the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price.

In morning trade the payments company’s shares have rocketed almost 8% higher to a new record high of $55.19.

It isn’t just Afterpay on the rise today. The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is also up 8% to $6.26 at the time of writing. This puts it within sight of its record high of $6.97.

Today’s gains mean that Afterpay’s shares are now up 590% from their March low and Zip’s shares are up almost 500% from their March low.

This has been driven by impressive sales and customer growth by both companies and the avoidance of a deterioration in bad debt levels during the pandemic. These positive metrics appear to have convinced the market that their business models are far more robust that many gave them credit for.

Can Afterpay and Zip shares go higher?

While the short term performance of their shares is difficult to predict, I believe over the long term their shares can go materially higher from here.

Thanks to international expansion, the increasing popularity of the payment method, and their massive market opportunities, I feel both companies are well-positioned to deliver very strong sales growth for many years to come.

Though, given the premium their shares trade at and the risks involved, I would suggest investors try to limit an investment in either of their shares to just a small part of a balanced portfolio.

I’m not alone in thinking they could be good options for investors. Earlier this month Morgans placed an add rating and $7.00 price target on Zip’s shares and Bell Potter put a buy rating and $65.00 price target on Afterpay’s shares.

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James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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