Shares of Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) slumped as much as 7% after it announced today that its phase IIb clinical trial of lintuzumab (SGN-33) in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) did not meet its primary endpoint of extending overall survival. Lintuzumab is a naked monoclonal antibody that targets the CD33 antigen. As a result of the outcome of this trial, the company will discontinue its development program for lintuzumab. "We are disappointed that lintuzumab did not demonstrate a survival benefit for older AML patients in this study. These patients have limited therapeutic alternatives due to their inability to tolerate the toxicities associated with standard high-dose chemotherapy, representing a substantial unmet medical need," said Thomas C. Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Seattle Genetics. "We want to thank the patients, caregivers and investigators for their participation and commitment to the clinical evaluation of lintuzumab."
Shares of ArcSight (NASDAQ: ARST) soared as much as 24% today after Hewlett-Packard Company (NASDAQ: HPQ) agreed to acquire it for $43.50 per share, or an enterprise value of $1.5 billion. The combination of HP and ArcSight will improve security, reduce risk and facilitate compliance at a lower cost for customers. ArcSight's superior technology is highly complementary to HP's existing security portfolio of hardware, software and services.
Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMEX: INO), soared as much as 18% after it announced today that it has achieved best-in-class immune responses in its Phase I dose escalation study of VGX-3100, its DNA vaccine to treat pre-cancerous cervical dysplasias and cervical cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18. This vaccine targets HPV E6 and E7 proteins and is delivered via in vivo electroporation. All dose groups developed significant antibody and T-cell immune responses; however, more notably, in the third and final dose group, five of six (83%) patients developed unprecedented T-cell responses not achieved by any other non-replicating vaccine platform in humans. Inovio is planning to start a Phase II clinical study in the first quarter of 2011.
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Full Disclosure: None.
