Peregrine Soars After Lung Cancer Drug Extends Survival

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PPHM)
shares rose the most in three years after the biotechnology
company said its experimental drug doubled survival rates from
non-small cell lung cancer in a study.

Peregrine soared (PPHM) 47 percent to $4.50 at the close in New
York, the biggest single-day increase since May 28, 2009. The
shares have more than tripled in the past 12 months.

Lung cancer patients who took Peregrine's bavituximab with
standard chemotherapy lived a median of 12.1 months, compared
with 5.6 months for those given just chemotherapy, according to
interim results of the trial presented at a medical meeting in
Chicago. The study was from second of three phases of testing
needed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The results are promising and bolster Peregrine's plans to
continue developing the drug, which works by stimulating the
immune system, said Charles Duncan, an analyst at JMP Securities
in New York. The company is "in discussions" with potential
partners to help with final clinical trials, said Chief
Executive Officer Steven W. King.

"The quality of this data gives us a solid foundation for
designing a Phase III trial with an increased probability of
success," Joseph Shan, vice president of clinical and
regulatory affairs at Peregrine, said in a statement. "We are
planning for an end-of-phase II meeting with the FDA as we plan
to initiate this trial by mid-2013."

160,340 Deaths

Lung cancer causes 160,340 deaths each year in the U.S.,
exceeding any tumor type, according to the American Cancer
Society. More than 225,000 people will be diagnosed with it in
2012, the most after breast cancer in women and prostate cancer
in men. Non-small-cell lung cancer is the most common form of
the disease, accounting for as many as 90 percent of cases. Few
patients are alive five years after diagnosis.

The study included patients who failed to respond to
previous treatment; 79 were given bavituximab and 38 a placebo.
While patients receiving the drug had longer overall survival,
the treatment didn't slow the tumors' progress.

That might be because bavituximab works by disrupting the
vascular support for the tumors and stimulating the immune
system, which means the potency may increase with time, Duncan
said in a telephone interview. Strengthening the immune system
can take a while to work, giving a greater long-term response to
treatment, he said.

"This drug doesn't necessarily have any inherent killing
properties, but it does bolster the immune system," he said.
"Hopefully, over time, the immune system wins."

Peregrine is studying the drug in non-small-cell lung
cancer, pancreatic cancer and other tumor types, as well as
other conditions including hepatitis C and viral infections.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at
mcortez@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reg Gale at
rgale5@bloomberg.net