Shares of oncology firm Novocure (NASDAQ:NVCR) stock are soaring to start the day on Tuesday following a promising update from its phase 3 tumor-treating trial.
An independent data monitoring committee (DMC) said that the “pre-specified interim analysis for the LUNAR trial would be accelerated given the length of accrual and the number of events observed, to date.” This included data from more than 200 patients, and after review, the DMC determined that the trial should go on “with no evidence of increased systemic toxicity.”
Overall, the trial is examining Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) in stage 4 non-small-cell lung cancer patients after platinum failure. And according to the release, “[t]he primary endpoint of the LUNAR trial is superior overall survival when patients are treated with TTFields plus immune checkpoint inhibitors or docetaxel versus immune checkpoint inhibitors or docetaxel alone.”
William Doyle, executive chairman of Novocure, had this to say regarding the NVCR stock news:
“We are very pleased with the DMC recommendations, which we believe support the potential for TTFields to make a significant difference in treatment outcomes for patients with non-small cell lung cancer, whether used together with immune checkpoint inhibitors or docetaxel. The accelerated interim analysis with an encouraging outcome adds to the accumulating evidence of Tumor Treating Fields’ broad potential across a range of hard-to-treat cancers.”
NVCR stock was up 52% as of Tuesday morning.
On the date of publication, Nick Clarkson did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Nick Clarkson is a web editor at InvestorPlace.
