Here's why a small cancer company's shares are skyrocketing

Clovis Oncology's stock is soaring.

The cancer drug company's stock is up 30% — after being briefly halted for volatility — on the news that the FDA is going to evaluate Clovis' ovarian cancer drug, rucaparib, for approval. The agency should give Clovis an answer on whether they'll approve the drug by February 23, 2017.

Rucaparib is a PARP inhibitors, a new type of medicine that blocks a particular enzyme that's used by our cells to repair DNA so that tumors can't survive. This is the same drug that Pfizer sold the rights to in 2011, and has since picked up a competing drug in its $14 billion Medivation acquisition.

Here's the chart right after the news release dropped.

clovis oncology
clovis oncology

(Google Finance)

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