Introgen shares rise on cancer drug filings

Shares of Introgen Therapeutics Inc. rose Monday after the biotechnology company said it asked U.S. and European regulators to approve its drug Advexin as a head and neck cancer treatment.

The stock gained 4 cents, or 2.7 percent, to reach $1.55 Monday. Shares have traded between $1.47 and $4.85 over the last 52 weeks.

The company said it asked the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency to approve the drug. It requested priority review from the FDA, which, if granted, would give the agency six months to make a decision on the application.

The regulatory filings are based on positive midstage and late-stage study data, the company said, where Advexin improved the survival rate for prespecified patients. Those patients were given pretreatment tests to find whether they had the p53 gene which the drug targets.