Agenus Inc said its experimental cancer vaccine helped brain tumor patients live nearly twice as long compared with those who received standard treatment.
The biotechnology company’s shares jumped 23 per cent to $3.96 before the bell.
The drug, when given in addition to standard treatment, extended median overall survival in 50 per cent of newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients to two years in a mid-stage study. GBM patients, who tend to succumb to the disease within one year, are usually treated with a combination of radiation and the chemotherapy drug temozolomide.
Patients on the vaccine also showed a median survival rate of nearly 18 months without the disease progressing, which is about two-three times longer than those on traditional therapy, Agenus said yesterday.
