ArQule Up 15% After Liver Cancer Drug Meets Endpoints

Shares of ArQule ARQL are trading up more than 15% after the company announced that its liver cancer drug met primary endpoints in a clinical trial. The company announced that treatment with tivantinib as single agent therapy produced a statistically significant 56 percent improvement in time-to-progression (TTP) in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population, the primary endpoint in a randomized, controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in previously treated patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (hazard ratio = 0.64; log rank p-value = 0.04). Adverse events were reported at similar rates in the treatment and placebo arms, except for a higher incidence of fatigue and hematologic events, including neutropenia and anemia, in tivantinib-treated patients. The incidence of hematologic events declined following dose reduction of tivantinib from 360 milligrams twice daily (BID) to 240 milligrams BID.