BioSante up on GVAX data in pancreatic cancer
BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:BPAX) gained $0.10 (14%) to $0.81 on Monday after reporting data from a Phase Ib trial of GVAX Pancreas cancer vaccine plus ipilimumab to treat previously treated, locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. In 30 patients, GVAX plus ipilimumab led to a 5.5-month improvement in overall survival (OS) compared to 3.3 months with ipilimumab alone; the difference between the arms was not significant (p=0.12). However, BioSante said the trial was not powered for a direct comparison between treatment groups. Additionally, the one-year OS rate for GVAX plus ipilimumab was 27% vs. 7% for ipilimumab alone. GVAX is an allogeneic vaccine engineered to secrete granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Ipilimumab is a mAb against CTLA-4 receptor from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) that is approved as Yervoy to treat unresectable or metastatic melanoma. ...