OncoGenex Shares Climb As Apatorsen Trial Meets Primary Goal Of Overall Survival

(RTTNews) - Shares of OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OGXI) gained around 30 percent in the extended trading on Tuesday after the company announced positive survival results from the Phase 2 Borealis-2 trial of apatorsen in Metastatic Bladder Cancer.

The biopharmaceutical company focused on treatment resistance in cancer patients noted that the trial of apatorsen in combination with docetaxel treatment met primary endpoint of overall survival.

In the study, 200 patients with metastatic bladder cancer were enrolled, whose disease had progressed following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients who received apatorsen treatment experienced a 20% reduction in risk of death, compared to patients receiving docetaxel alone.

The primary analysis was a superiority test of overall survival. Safety results in patients treated with apatorsen and docetaxel were similar to those observed in patients treated with docetaxel alone.

Apatorsen is designed to inhibit production of heat shock protein 27 or Hsp27 to disable cancer cells' defenses and overcome treatment resistance.

Hsp27 is an intracellular protein that protects cancer cells by helping them survive, leading to resistance and more aggressive cancer phenotypes.

Scott Cormack, President and CEO of OncoGenex, said, "We look forward to completing the full data analysis from Borealis-2 and considering these data in our continuing work with MTS Health Partners in the exploration of strategic alternatives as announced in mid-August."