ImmunoGen Reports Positive Results In Patients With Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
Shares of ImmunoGen (IMGN) are up 68% after the company reported positive results in patients with Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. These positive results were presented over this past weekend at the 2015 American Society For Clinical Oncology -- ASCO -- meeting. The trial findings come from a phase 1 trial and expansion phase 2 cohort that have recruited patients with FRa-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
Immunogen's mirvetuximab soravtansine is a drug compound that is being used in the study to help these patients with this form of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Prior to receiving Immunogen's drug, patients were given the standard care treatments for ovarian cancer known as taxane, as well as platinum therapy. Although 22 patients were established for efficacy only 17 were shown as part of the results at the ASCO meeting. This is because five patients had not completed treatment at the time of the abstract submission to the meeting.
The results showed that nine of the seventeen patients evaluated received an overall response rate of 53%. This means that on average 53% of these patients saw a reduction of the cancer to some degree. Eight patients achieved a partial response and one patients achieved a complete response. ImmunoGen will now prepare for a phase 2 trial with its drug compound to be used as a single-agent treatment in patients with FRa-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
Disclosure: No positions mentioned.
so few patients. what was the follow-up period. will be interesting to see if the drug can have a sustained effect on the tumor, or if it (the tumor) simply develops resistance a few months latter and not affect overall survival to any significant extent. Previous phase III study with Vintafolide extended progression free survival by only 2.3 months. In 2014 Merck and Endocyte stopped a late-stage study of vintafolide in treating ovarian cancer on the recommendation of a data safety monitoring board, saying that the drug failed to improve progression-free survival. To me, it seems like the bump in stock price was too much considering that the company's previous attempt to bring a drug conjugate to market failed (IMGN901) and the failure of Kadcyla. IMO
How much of an impact do you think this will have on the stock price?
This is a pretty big deal especially in these patients with a cancer that is resistant to platinum treatment