Shares Of Several Cancer Drug Firms Surged Against Positive Clinical Trial Data

Shares of several cancer drug firms surged in premarket trading on Monday after the companies reported positive clinical trial data from their therapies at an ongoing industry conference in Chicago.

Day One Bio, Immunogen Inc and Evaxion Biotech A/S were among the biggest sector gainers after presentations at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Shares of Day One surged 21.3 per cent to USD 16.54 premarket after the company's experimental therapy for a type of brain tumor significantly reduced tumor in 67 per cent of patients aged over 6 months to 25 years in a mid-stage study.

ImmunoGen Inc's experimental drug to treat a type of ovarian cancer showed 35 per cent reduction in the risk of tumor progression or death compared to chemotherapy in a late-stage study. The drugmaker's shares rose 7.7 per cent to USD 15.48.

Shares of Evaxion surged nearly 40 per cent to USD 2.03 after the smaller drug developer said its vaccine to prevent a type of skin cancer met safety goals in an early-stage study.

On the other hand, Arcus Biosciences Inc fell 3.7 per cent after updated data on its experimental drug to treat a type of lung cancer showed a lower benefit in cutting the risk of disease progression, compared to earlier data from a mid-stage trial.

The double combination of experimental drugs, domvanalimab and zimberelimab, controlled disease progression for 9.3 months, compared to the 12 months that Arcus reported in December. The company is developing the drug with Gilead Sciences Inc .