By Elias Schisgall
Shares of Candel Therapeutics rose after the company said it was initiating a pivotal Phase 3 trial to evaluate a lung-cancer treatment.
Shares were up 8.4% to $11.23 in trading midday Tuesday. The stock has nearly doubled in value this year.
The company said Tuesday that it had engaged the clinical-research organization Parexel International to help execute the trial, which will evaluate aglatimagene besadenovec plus valacyclovir in combination with continued pembrolizumab for patients with metastatic, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed despite treatment with pembrolizumab and platinum-based chemotherapy.
The trial is expected to enroll patients across 150 sites, with a primary endpoint of overall survival and secondary endpoints including safety and quality-of-life assessments, said Candel.
The drug has been granted fast-track designation by the Food and Drug Administration, the biopharmaceutical company said.
"Building on our completed Phase 2 clinical trial, we have refined the target patient population by integrating clinical and biomarker insights to maximize the likelihood of success of the Phase 3 trial," Chief Executive Officer Paul Peter Tak said.
Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com