Endocyte Shares Soar As Cancer Drug Meets Main Goal In Mid Stage Study

(RTTNews) - Endocyte Inc. (ECYT) Friday said its experimental cancer drug in combination with approved treatment slowed lung cancer progression longer than the single-drug treatment. Shares of Endocyte almost doubled after the mid-stage study results were announced.

West Lafayette, Indiana-based Endocyte said the study indicated the risk of disease worsening or death was reduced by 25 percent for the patients taking the combination of vintafolide and docetaxel compared with patients taking docetaxel alone. The second phase study was conducted on 199 patients, who had failed one prior chemotherapy.

Vintafolide is an investigational conjugate of folic acid linked to an anti-cancer agent, the potent vinca alkaloid desacetylvinblastine hydrazide.

"We are pleased with the results of this study, as the vintafolide/docetaxel combination showed meaningful activity in patients with recurrent NSCLC, meeting the primary endpoint of the trial," said Binh Nguyen, vice president of medical affairs at Endocyte.

ECYT is currently trading at $27.53, up $12.89 or 88.05%, on heavy volume of 12.7 million shares, on the Nasdaq.