ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARIA) continues to climb higher midday, printing a fresh 52-week high above $6.90 level. Early Tuesday, the Cambridge, Mass.- based firm reported positive Phase III clinical data for its ridaforolimus drug to target cancerous tumors of the soft tissue or bone. Ariad said ridaforolimus met “the primary endpoint of improved progression-free survival compared to placebo in the Phase 3 SUCCEED trial conducted in patients with metastatic soft-tissue or bone sarcomas who previously had a favorable response to chemotherapy.” The company is co-developing the treatment with Merck & Co. (MRK) for several cancer indications.
Shares of Ariad are currently up more than 30 percent to $6.87. Volume has exploded. Approximately 10.4 million shares have already traded hands compared to an average 3-month volume of 1.7 million shares. Earlier this morning the ticker hit its highest PPS since May 2006.
ARIA has a market cap of $866 million and a 50-day moving average of $4.54. Today’s spike sent the equity up more than 200% in the last 52-weeks and out of the $5.25 range that it had been stuck in for more than a month.
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