NYMX Grabs Headlines, MRNS Awaits Data In 2H, PSTI Takes Small Step In DMD Race

(RTTNews) - Seeking to uplist its stock to a national stock exchange, Aytu BioScience Inc. (AYTU.OB) is all set to effect a 1:12 reverse stock split after the market close on June 30, 2016 for holders of record on that date.

Following the reverse split, the number of outstanding shares of the company's common stock will be reduced to approximately 3.7 million shares from approximately 44.9 million.

AYTU.OB closed Wednesday's trading at $0.41, unchanged from the previous day's close.

The National Institutes of Health's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee has unanimously approved Dimension Therapeutics Inc.'s (DMTX) phase 1/2 study protocol for DTX301 for the treatment of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.

The company plans to continue moving forward to complete its IND-enabling studies to support global regulatory submissions in the second half of 2016.

DMTX closed Wednesday's trading at $7.46, down 2.23%.

The first patient in Incyte Corp.'s (INCY) phase III study of Epacadostat as first-line treatment for patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma has been treated.

The trial, dubbed ECHO-301 study is evaluating Epacadostat in combination with Merck's (MRK) Keytruda, and is designed to enroll 600 patients.

The company anticipates initial data from the ECHO-301 study to be available in 2018.

INCY closed Wednesday's trading at $78.50, up 1.16%.

Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. (KPTI) has initiated a phase I trial of KPT-9274 in patients with advanced solid malignancies including sarcoma, colon and lung cancer, or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma whose disease has relapsed after standard therapy.

The study is expected to enroll up to 175 patients, with top-line data expected next year.

KPTI closed Wednesday's trading at $7.68, up 0.79%.

Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MRNS) has dosed the first subject in its phase I clinical trial of Ganaxolone IV for the treatment of status epilepticus.

The study is designed to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of Ganaxolone IV in healthy volunteers, with data anticipated in the second half of 2016.

MRNS closed Wednesday's trading at $1.34, up 0.75%.

Shares of Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp. (NYMX) rose over 35% on Wednesday, following exciting new prostate cancer prevention results in a 7-year prospective study of the company's lead drug candidate Fexapotide triflutate, also known as NX-1207.

The data strongly indicate that in addition to benefit for prostate enlargement (BPH) symptoms, Fexapotide will also help to prevent cancer in these patients.

Fexapotide is under phase III study for BPH and phase II testing for prostate cancer.

As a treatment for BPH, Fexapotide shows long-term efficacy without the safety risk and side effect concerns or added cancer risk associated with currently approved BPH treatments. As a treatment for prostate cancer, Fexapotide was found to lead to highly statistically significant reduction in disease progression in a large 147 patient multi-year phase II study of U.S. men with low grade cancer. The new results now add a third dimension to Fexapotide utility, and that is clinical prostate cancer prevention, noted Paul Averback, CEO of Nymox.

NYMX closed Wednesday's trading 35.19% higher at $3.15.

Shares of Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. (PSTI) rose over 11% on Wednesday, following positive data from the company's preclinical studies of PLX-PAD cells in the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

According to the study results, PLX-PAD cells reduced creatine phosphokinase (CPK), a marker of muscle degeneration or injury, by approximately 50% as compared to placebo in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy.

PSTI closed Wednesday's trading at $1.35, up 11.57%.