CytRx Crumbles on Late-Stage Whiff

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 5:49AM EST · Published Jul 12, 11:35AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

CytRx Crumbles on Late-Stage Whiff — © Thinkstock

CytRx Corp. (NASDAQ: CYTR) absolutely crumbled in Tuesday’s session after the company released less than favorable late-stage results. The company announced the results of an analysis of its global, randomized, Phase 3 clinical trial of aldoxorubicin compared to investigator’s choice therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory soft tissue sarcomas (STS).

Because enrollment was interrupted by a partial clinical hold in November 2014, this analysis did not provide for sufficient follow-up for the nearly two-thirds of patients who entered the Phase 3 study after the hold was resolved and enrollment resumed.

Unfortunately, this resulted in nearly half of all patients being censored (excluded) from the current progression free survival (PFS) evaluation. CytRx expects to conduct a second analysis, which will include longer patient follow-up and allow for greater maturation of all endpoints.

[nativounit]

CytRx expects to announce the results of this evaluation and hold an end-of-Phase 3 meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the fourth quarter of 2016. The partial clinical hold was related to a single patient enrolled in a compassionate use study, which was subsequently resolved successfully.

Also it is worth mentioning that with roughly $68.2 million in cash and equivalents as of the company’s last 10-Q filing, CytRx is funded through the next Phase 3 STS trial analysis and through a readout of its global Phase 2b trial of aldoxorubicin in small cell lung cancer.

Sant Chawla, M.D., FRACP, Principal Investigator and the Director of the Sarcoma Oncology Center in Santa Monica, California, commented:

While results from this current analysis are immature, a near doubling of response rates with aldoxorubicin suggests a highly active therapy which may benefit certain patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Because enrollment was interrupted by a clinical hold, both PFS and response data need to be analyzed at a future date to account for patients enrolled later in the trial. I look forward to this subsequent analysis providing a more complete understanding of aldoxorubicin’s potential in this very challenging disease.

Shares of CytRx were trading down over 60% at $0.94 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $6.83 and a 52-week trading range of $0.74 to $4.20.

[wallst_email_signup]

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.