Heat Biologics Takes Heat For Failed Bladder Cancer Trial

(RTTNews) - Shares of Heat Biologics Inc. (HTBX) tumbled nearly 57% in extended trading on Wednesday, following disappointing results from its phase II study of bladder cancer cell vaccine HS-410 in the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

The trial evaluated HS-410 in combination with standard of care, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and as a monotherapy against placebo, with one-year disease free survival as the primary endpoint.

According to the trial results, although there were encouraging signs of anti-tumor activity with HS-410, there was no statistically significant difference in the primary endpoint between the vaccine and placebo arms of the trial.

The patients enrolled in the trial will now be monitored for an additional 12 months and based on those results, the company will decide whether or not to advance the trial into phase III testing.

Shares of Heat Biologics had gained over 134% in the last 7 trading days in the run-up to the announcement of the trial results. But with HS-410 failing the mid-stage study, Heat Biologics' rally has come to an end.

HTBX closed Wednesday's trading at $2.87, down 3.69%. In after-hours, the stock plummeted 56.10% to $1.26.