Spectrum’s value halved after poziotinib’s failure in NSCLC cohort

Eleven months after Spectrum divested its marketed products to sharpen its focus on a pair of clinical candidates, one of the two has failed in the first cohort of a Phase II trial, while the other is now under FDA review.

Shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI) sank $5.25 (60%) to $3.50 Thursday after it said poziotinib missed the primary endpoint in Cohort 1 of the ZENITH20 study. Among 115 patients, poziotinib led to a 14.8% objective response rate (ORR) (95% CI: 8.9%, 22.6%), which did not meet the endpoint; Spectrum did not respond to an inquiry about specific criteria for success in the trial...