Endocyte & Merck Asked To Stop Phase 3 PROCEED Trial; Endocyte's Q1 Loss Widens

(RTTNews) - Endocyte, Inc. (ECYT) Friday said the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board or DSMB asked the company and Merck(MRK)to stop its Phase 3 PROCEED trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The DBMS's recommendation was based on the outcome of the progression-free survival efficacy measure specified for the interim analysis. The board did not identify any safety concerns for the patients enrolled in the trial. The company said it is continuing to monitor the results of the TARGET trial in non-small cell lung cancer , especially the overall survival results, which had initially showed positive trends in favor of the combination therapy arm. The firm plans to present the full results of Phase 2b TARGET trial, including latest overall survival data, in an upcoming medical conference in 2014.Also, it said it expects to furnish updates on Phase 1 progress for proprietary pipeline agents, EC1456, a folate-targeted tubulysin agent, and EC1169, a PSMA-targeted tubulysin agent. Further, for the first quarter, Endocyte reported a net loss of $3.86 million or $0.11 per share compared with a loss of $3.14 million or $0.09 per share in the prior-year quarter. The firm posted revenues of $14.5 million versus $17.2 million last year.