Inhibrx shares surge after bone cancer drug slows disease progression in trial

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(Reuters) -Inhibrx Biosciences said on Thursday its experimental drug helped slow the progression of a rare and aggressive bone cancer in a mid-stage trial, sending its shares surging over 70% in extended trading.

In the 206-patient study, the drug, ozekibart, extended the time patients lived without their cancer worsening to 5.52 months, compared with 2.66 months for those on placebo.

Inhibrx said it plans to submit a marketing application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of 2026.

The company was testing the drug to treat chondrosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that starts in the bones and mainly affects the cartilage, the flexible tissue around joints. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for the disease.

The drug also helped control the disease and improved patients’ quality of life, including delaying pain and physical decline.

The benefit was seen across different patient groups, including those with and without IDH mutations, which are common in chondrosarcoma.

“I am very encouraged and enthusiastic about ozekibart and the impact I have seen on my sarcoma patients,” said Dr Robin Jones of the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.

The treatment was generally well tolerated. One patient died from liver toxicity early in the trial, but Inhibrx said it has since put in place measures to reduce that risk, including excluding patients with severe liver problems and closely monitoring liver function during early treatment.

Inhibrx also shared early data from ongoing studies testing ozekibart in combination with chemotherapy in colorectal cancer and Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone and soft tissue cancer with no FDA-approved treatment.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)