NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Positive data presented on Vermillion's OVA1 ovarian cancer test sent the company's stock up almost 27 percent in mid-afternoon trading today.
With less than two hours left to the trading day, Vermillion's shares were trading at $3.10 and went as high as $3.50 earlier in the day. More than 1.1 million shares traded hands, a greater-than-seven-fold increase from the three-month average daily volume of 152,623.
The spike was prompted by a presentation by the principal investigator of the multi-center OVA1 clinical trial showing that the test, when combined with imaging, achieved 98.1 percent sensitivity for all types of ovarian cancers, as well as a negative predictive value of 96.3 percent.
Fred Ueland, an associate professor of gynecology at the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center, made his presentation at the 17th Annual European Society of Gynecological Oncology in Milan, Italy. He also presented data showing that a rising OVA1 score correlated with an increasing risk for ovarian malignancy.
"The current research demonstrates that OVA1 in conjunction with imaging will not only help identify more women with ovarian cancer for referral, but can give them greater confidence that their ovarian tumor is benign," Ueland said in a statement.
Vermillion's test was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration two years ago.