Threshold Pharma Stocks Up on Glufofamide trial data

Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Top-Line Phase 2 Clinical Trial Results Of Glufosfamide For Treatment Of Pancreatic Cancer; Stocks Rise

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 27-- Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: THLD - News), today announced top-line results from the Phase 2 clinical trial of glufosfamide in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. 21% of patients in the clinical trial had a partial response (including one unconfirmed partial response) and 36% of patients had stable disease. Glufosfamide was generally well tolerated in combination with gemcitabine with no new unexpected adverse events.

In the Phase 2 clinical trial, 29 patients were treated, of which 28 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma previously untreated with chemotherapy were evaluated for response. Overall, 5 patients achieved a confirmed partial response and one other patient achieved an unconfirmed partial response. In addition, 10 patients experienced stable disease. Objective response was assessed radiologically after every two cycles of therapy. A partial response is characterized as a decrease in size by 30% of the sum of the longest diameters of target lesions, the absence of progression of all non-target lesions and no new lesions.


Pancreatic cancer is a death sentence; it is very hard to treat directly and metastasizes very rapidly. These tumors are very aggressive and painful for the patient, so any type of drug that will present a 30% decrease in tumor size is significant.
Glufosfamide targets tumor cells in the pancreas by targeting overexpressed glucose transport receptors. It has been shown that these tumor cells have a greater glucose metabolism rate, thus making the drug selective. Once inside the cell, glufosfamide is converted to an active form, which alkylates DNA resulting in cell death.

THLD closed today's trading up 28% to $4.11 and up another 2 cents per share in after hours trading. THLD stock has a 52 week trading range from 1.42 to 16.98.

Other biotech stocks making news today were Biosante Pharmaceuticals which also rose on clinical news, up 5% at $2.80, after hitting an earlier high of $3.06. Early Thursday, the biotech group announced it had started Phase III clinical testing for LibiGel, a therapy for female sexual dysfunction in women with menopause triggered by surgery.

Shares of Encysive Pharmaceuticals plunged 24% to $4.49 on word that the Food and Drug Administration has now classified its drug candidate Thelin as a Class II drug, which could complicate its approval process, according to analysts. Encysive has been seeking to get Thelin, a treatment of the life-threatening lung disorder pulmonary arterial hypertension, approved in the U.S. since 2005.