Novartis Shares Rise 6.5 Percent as Breast Cancer Drug Delivers Optimistic Results

Novartis shares rose more than 5% during Monday's trading session after the company announced that its breast cancer drug Kisqali performed well in recent trials. According to the company, Kisqali reduces the risk of relapse in women diagnosed with the disease at an early stage. The news could potentially improve growth prospects for the drug maker, whose shares are trading down 3% this year.

“These findings may change the paradigm for patients at risk of relapse, including those without lymph node involvement, who have limited well-tolerated options to prevent relapse. Our teams are working to submit applications to health authorities around the world with the hope that Kisqali will be available to many more patients diagnosed with breast cancer,” Global Drug Development President and Chief Medical Officer Shreeram Aradhye said earlier in a statement.

With P/E at around 26x and dividend yield of over 4%, this biotech giant can potentially get a lot of attention from buyers amid dwindling interest to small companies experiencing cash crunch amid venture capital industry crisis. At 2:00 p.m. CET, Novartis shares rose 6.45% to sell for CHF 81.08.