Progenics On Positive Prostate Cancer Imaging Data: 'These Are Highly Encouraging Results'

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. PGNX shares were rallying Friday morning in response to positive trial data for a prostate cancer imaging agent. 

What Happened

The company announced results Friday from the OSPREY 2301 Phase 2/3 study of PyL, its PSMA-targeted small molecule PET imaging agent which is used to visualize prostate cancer.

Pyl showed high sensitivity in detecting distant metastatic prostate cancer lesions and high specificity in confirming the absence of pelvic lymph node disease, indicating high clinical utility, the company said.

Progenics' OSPREY study evaluated 385 patients with either high-risk locally advanced prostate cancer or metastatic or recurrent prostate cancer.

Pyl showed a high specificity in Cohort A, which was comprised of patients with high-risk locally advanced prostate cancer, and met the first co-primary endpoint. The sensitivity of 31-42 percent did not meet the second co-primary endpoint.

In the metastatic or recurrent prostate cancer setting, dubbed Cohort B, PyL exhibited sensitivity of 93-99 percent and PPV of 81-88 percent in detecting metastatic lesions.

Why It's Important

Information from the PET scan using the PyL imaging agent, according to the company, provides important guidance in decision-making for the treatment of prostate cancer.

"These are highly encouraging results in a large, well-controlled and rigorous trial showing PyL has excellent positive and negative predictive value in assessing the distribution of disease in men with high-risk prostate cancer," Dr. Michael Morris, a lead investigator in the trial, said in a statement. 

What's Next

Progenics said it plans to submit full trial results for presentation at a medical meeting. The stock was up 3.83 percent at $6.35 at the time of publication Friday. 

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