(Bloomberg) -- Cancer drugmaker Mirati Therapeutics Inc. is attracting fresh takeover interest from large pharmaceutical companies ahead of updates on its drug pipeline, people with knowledge of the matter said. The stock rose as much as 16% on the news. 

The San Diego-based company has been weighing strategic options including a potential sale for some time, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. 

Mirati rose 15% to $85.35 at 3:09 p.m. in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about $4.9 billion. The stock had fallen 49% this year before Tuesday’s gain.

Mirati is working with an adviser and larger drugmakers have been studying the merits of a transaction, though there are currently no formal bids on the table and a deal isn’t imminent, some of the people said. The company has attracted takeover interest in previous years without it leading to a deal, the people said. 

A spokesperson for Mirati declined to comment on a potential sale. 

Mirati is developing a lung-cancer treatment called Adagrasib, which the US Food and Drug Administration is reviewing with a decision expected Dec. 14. Studies have indicated that combining Adagrasib with other anticancer drugs may shrink tumors even more than when the treatment is used on its own. 

The company is expected to release highlyanticipated data at a Geneva conference in early December about its study on the use of Adagrasib with another cancer treatment called Pembrolizumab in patients with a certain type of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. If the data show that the combination is safe, it could catalyze a sale of Mirati, the people said.

The spokesperson added that the company is “focused on executing against our strategy and mission to bring innovative and impactful targeted oncology treatments to people living with cancer” and “actively looking forward to several upcoming critical company milestones” like the potential approval of adagrasib and several data readouts.

Considerations of a potential sale have gained greater impetus due to the difficult biotech funding environment. A deal would give Mirati resources to commercialize its treatment and fund future studies, some of the people said. It’s become an even more attractive target for large pharmaceutical companies seeking to expand their cancer treatment offerings since larger rival Seagen Inc. opted to stay independent.

Mirati’s lead drug candidate could generate more than $200 million of sales in the US and European Union by 2025, according to “conservative” estimates by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts.

(Updates trading in first and third paragraphs.)

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