Shares of Ventrus Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:VTUS) gained 14.8 percent Monday, closing at $12.58, after the company reported improvement in three measures of efficacy in a pivotal Phase III study of VEN 307 (diltiazem hydrochloride cream) in anal fissures.
Positive Phase III data with Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Viread for chronic hepatitis B virus didn't surprise Wall Street, and left analysts divided on whether marketing the compound - already prescribed off label - could threaten Hepsera further, the firm's already-cleared therapy, if approved for HBV. (BioWorld Today)
By backing out of development deal with UCB SA for the cancer drug CDP-791, ImClone Systems Inc. gains time and resources to work on its own blocker of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2, slated to finish Phase I trials in the first half of this year. (BioWorld Today)
