Oncothyreon plummets on NSCLC data
Oncothyreon Inc. (NASDAQ:ONTY) fell $2.31 (51%) to $2.19 on Wednesday after it and Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK) said L-BLP25 missed the primary endpoint of improving overall survival vs. placebo in the Phase III START trial to treat unresectable, locally advanced stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Merck's Merck Serono S.A. unit said L-BLP25 did show "notable treatment effects" in some subgroups, but declined to provide details. Merck Serono said it expects to conduct further subgroup analyses "in the coming weeks" and will meet regulatory authorities to determine next steps. The double-blind, international trial enrolled over 1,500 patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC who had achieved a response or stable disease after two or more cycles of platinum-based chemoradiotherapy.
L-BLP25 is also in the Phase III INSPIRE trial in unresectable stage III NSCLC patients. Merck has exclusive, worldwide rights to L-BLP25 from Oncothyreon. L-BLP25 (formerly Stimuvax) is a liposomal vaccine containing a synthetic 25 amino acid peptide sequence from mucin 1 ( MUC1; CD227). ...