Genitope's cancer vaccine fails, shares sink

By Margarita Snegireva. Personalized vaccine designed by Genitope Corp. failed to cure relatively common lymphoma and to prevent the cancer from progressing, sinking shares.

Photo: Genitope's cancer vaccine fails, shares sink

Genitope stock fell 38.9 percent ahead of the announcement to its lowest level since August 2006, before dropping to 88 cents in extended trade.

The Fremont, California-based company said the trial included 287 people with previously untreated follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, Reuters report. 

Chief Executive Dan Denney told Reuters that the company intends to continue pursuing regulatory approval for its vaccine, called MyVax.

Genitope Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on the research and development of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Immunotherapy products are designed to utilize the immune system to combat diseases such as cancer. Our lead product candidate, MyVax® Personalized Immunotherapy (previously referred to as GTOP-99) is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial for the treatment of follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (f-NHL).

Genitope was founded in 1996 by Dan W. Denney, Jr., Ph.D., after he developed our Hi-GET® technology, an important part of our proprietary manufacturing process, which is designed to rapidly and efficiently produce our immunotherapies. In addition to our pivotal Phase 3 trial, Genitope has also conducted several Phase 2 trials to study MyVax® Personalized Immunotherapy in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, or B-cell NHL. B-cell NHL represents approximately 85% to 90% of the 300,000 existing and 55,000 newly diagnosed NHL patients each year in the United States.

Genitope Corporation intends to manufacture commercial quantities of MyVax® Personalized Immunotherapy and establish a sales force to market the product after receiving regulatory approval. We hold two U.S. patents covering our core gene amplification technology, including composition of matter claims directed to cell lines and claims directed to methods of making proteins derived from patients' tumors. Corresponding patents have been issued in Australia and South Africa. Genitope has also filed additional U.S. and corresponding foreign patent applications relating to its Hi-GET® technology featuring high-throughput gene expression techniques.