Peregrine soars on bavituximab OS data

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) jumped $1.43 (47%) to $4.50 on Friday after reporting that second-line treatment with bavituximab plus docetaxel significantly improved median overall survival compared to docetaxel alone in a Phase IIb trial to treat non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pooled data from the 79 patients in the 1 and 3 mg/kg bavituximab arms showed a median OS of 12.1 months compared to 5.6 months in the 38-patient docetaxel only arm (p=0.0154). Peregrine plans to start a Phase III trial of the chimeric mAb against phosphatidylserine in mid-2013.

The 40 patients in the low-dose arm had a median OS of 11.1 months, which was significant compared to docetaxel alone (p=0.0286). The 39 patients in the high-dose arm had a 13.1 month median OS, which was not significant compared to docetaxel alone. Data were presented at the Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. ...