ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIOP) shares lost some steam Monday after the company announced 'positive' updated results of Ad-RTS-hIL-12 study in brain cancer at the Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting.
The Boston-based company reported that new data shows median overall survival (mOS) of 12.5 months has been sustained for patients treated with Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus 20mg of veledimex (n=15) at a longer mean follow-up time of 11.1 months as of October 18
This mOS of 12.5 months continues to compare favorably to the five to eight months’ survival established in historical controls for patients with rGBM. Furthermore, the four patients with rGBM who received low-dose steroids maintained 100% survival at a mean follow-up time of 11.1 months.
An anti-tumor effect was also evident with centralized review of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showing decreasing size of brain tumor lesions in several patients.
ZIOPHARM Oncology employs innovative gene expression, control and cell technologies to deliver safe, effective and scalable cell- and viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and graft-versus-host-disease.
The Company's immuno-oncology programs, in collaboration with Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON) and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, include chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) and other adoptive cell-based approaches that use non-viral gene transfer methods for broad scalability.
The Company's pipeline includes a number of cell-based therapeutics in both clinical and preclinical testing which are focused on hematologic and solid tumor malignancies.
The company’s stock dropped in price 22 cents in the last hour of trade Monday, or 4.8%, to $4.35, within a 52-week trading range of $4.03 to $7.88
