Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) was the biggest faller in New York on Thursday morning after the biopharma’s flagship cancer candidate failed a late-stage study.
The Israel-based company had been testing its VB-111 drug in combination with Avastin to see if it was more effective in treating glioblastoma patients than if Avastin was used on its own.
But top-line results released on Thursday revealed VB-111 did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival – the length of time from the start of a treatment that patients are still alive.
Analysis of full dataset required
“We are disappointed that our encouraging phase II data were not replicated in the GLOBE phase III study, and once we receive the full and final data we will be analysing them carefully to better understand the outcome of the study,” said chief executive Dror Harats.
“We believe that VB-111 may still hold promise for other indications we currently or may study in the future.”
Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive form of primary brain tumours. In 2017, it is estimated there were approximately 12,000-13,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States alone.
Shares are down 61.3% to US$2.63 shortly before midday.