In pre-market trading, shares of Cytrx Corporation (CYTR) fell by 66% as the company has announced that its Phase 3 trial treating sarcoma patients failed to meet the primary endpoint of the study. The phase 3 trial recruited up to 433 patients to be treated for second-line soft tissue sarcoma. Shares of the company tumbled as the data they released showed that all the patients taking Aldoxorubicin failed to improve upon clinical outcome. 

The company claims that a trial halt in 2014 for this phase 3 trial caused a problem for the data. It states that it couldn't create a followup on progression-free survival for the patients once the clinical hold was enacted. The clinical hold was removed a few months later and the trial progressed as planned. Whether or not the addition of the other patient data would make a difference, the current results with current patient data suggest that the drug doesn't work all that much better than chemotherapy. 

Cytrx's drug Aldoxorubicin delayed tumor regrowth by 4.17 months compared to other drugs such as chemotherapy - doxorubicin -- delaying the growth by 4.04 months. This only amounted to a progression free survival of delay by 9%, which is not statistically significant. The company is testing Aldoxorubicin in other indications, but for the time being it might be best for investors to steer clear of this company until it can prove better data.

If it can show better results in its phase 2b lung cancer data, then it might stage a comeback. Also the company expects to post additional phase 3 data on this phase 3 sarcoma trial, but the chances of the data reading out as positive are slim at best.