MRK, NLNK Strive For Ebola Shot, VCYT Cuts A Deal, EVOK Hits Milestone

(RTTNews) - Evoke Pharma Inc. (EVOK) has completed production of a commercial scale lot of EVK-001 as required by the FDA.

EVK-001, a metoclopramide nasal spray for the relief of symptoms associated with acute and recurrent gastroparesis in women with diabetes mellitus, is under phase III testing. The company expects completing enrollment of the trial in the second half of 2015.

EVOK closed Tuesday's trading at $7.85, up 5.51%.

Merck (MRK) and NewLink Genetics Corp. (NLNK) have initiated the third, late-stage clinical trial of their Ebola vaccine candidate rVSV-ZEBOV-GP (V920) in Sierra Leone.

The vaccine candidate was originally developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory and licensed to NewLink Genetics in 2010. On Nov. 24, 2014, Merck and NewLink Genetics announced an exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement for the investigational Ebola vaccine.

The phase II/ III safety and effectiveness study, called STRIVE will involve 6,000 health and other frontline workers and is being led by the Sierra Leone College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

NLNK closed Tuesday's trading at $56.48, down 0.69%.

Galena Biopharma Inc. (GALE) has completed enrollment in its phase III trial of NeuVax, a first-in-class, HER2-directed cancer immunotherapy, under evaluation to prevent breast cancer recurrence after standard of care treatment in the adjuvant setting.

The trial, dubbed PRESENT, is over-enrolled by 7.7% with a total of 758 patients. The company expects interim analysis to be reached by the end of this year or in Q1, 2016.

GALE closed Tuesday's trading at $1.45, up 5.07%.

Veracyte Inc. (VCYT) has entered into a research collaboration with GE to develop new solutions that can improve disease diagnosis. Financial and other terms were not disclosed.

The agreement allows Veracyte to collaborate with GE Ventures, GE Healthcare, and the GE Global Research Center to explore the feasibility of combining Veracyte's genomic technology with GE Healthcare's digital imaging technology.

VCYT closed Tuesday's trading 6.86% higher at $8.88.