San Diego-based biotechnology company Tocagen Inc. saw its share price drop after it reported that its therapy failed to best standard of care in treating brain cancer patients.
Tocagen was evaluating its lead product candidate — a two-part immunotherapy made up of experimental biologic Toca 511 and an investigational small molecule called Toca FC — against standard of care treatment in a phase 3 trial dubbed Toca 5, to treat high-grade glioma.
Patients receiving Tocagen's medicines lived for a median of 11.1 months, or about a month less than those who received standard of care. In addition, all secondary goals also showed no meaningful differences between the two patient groups.
The company, which had filed for an IPO in 2017, saw its stock fall by 82.42% to 73.5 cents in premarket trading Sept. 12 on Nasdaq.
Tocagen CEO Marty Duvall said the Toca 5 trial results were disappointing and the company will conduct a thorough analysis of the study's data.
The therapy has received breakthrough-therapy designation in the U.S. and an orphan status in the EU. It is licensed to ApolloBio Corp. for the Greater China region.
